Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 3

Building Materials & Construction III

Building in steel — the third construction course, after natural materials and RCC. The structural steel sections and how they are joined; steel columns, beams, trusses and roofs; steel floors and staircases; and steel doors, windows, shutters and partitions. The practical HOW of steel construction, with a steel-section explorer and a roof-truss explorer.

5Units
2Explorers
4Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses
Completes the construction trilogy. After BMC-I (natural & traditional materials) and BMC-II (reinforced concrete), this course is all steel — the lightest, fastest, most demountable of the three structural materials.
Unit III · Spanning wide

Steel Beams, Trusses & Roofs

How steel covers space. Steel beams (rolled, plate girder, castellated, gantry); the roof trusses, from the small king post through the Pratt and Fink to the daylight-giving north-light truss; the space frame for vast column-free spans; and the roof coverings, purlins and fixings that finish it. With a live roof-truss explorer.

Roof trussesNorth-lightSpace frameRoof coveringsTruss explorer
Open the lesson

The syllabus

Five units, the whole steel building.

Transcribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons — with original diagrams, interactive explorers and a self-assessment quiz.

1

Unit 1 — Steel Sections, Connections & Foundations

Live

Structural steel and its properties; hot-rolled sections (I-beams, channels, angles, tees, hollow tubes) and built-up sections; the three connection methods — riveted, bolted (black and HSFG) and welded; and steel foundations (grillage and stanchion bases).

CO1CO6
2

Unit 2 — Steel Columns & Joints

Live

Steel column (stanchion) types — single, built-up (laced and battened), box and tube; column bases (slab and gusseted) with anchor bolts; beam-to-column joints and column splices; and pre-engineered buildings (PEB).

CO2CO6
3

Unit 3 — Steel Beams, Trusses & Roofs

Live

Steel beams (rolled, plate girder, castellated, gantry); roof trusses — king and queen post, Pratt, Howe, Fink, the north-light truss and lattice/bowstring; space frames; and roof coverings, purlins and fixings.

CO3CO6
4

Unit 4 — Steel Floors & Staircases

Live

Steel floor systems — steel beam with RCC slab, composite floors with shear studs, profiled metal-deck floors, and grating/chequered-plate floors; and steel staircases — their parts, types and tread materials.

CO4CO6
5

Unit 5 — Steel Doors, Windows & Partitions

Live

Steel windows (casement, fixed, pivoted, louvred); steel doors and the special doors — safety, dock, cold-storage, revolving, collapsible gates and rolling shutters; and steel partitions, framing and furniture in interiors.

CO5CO6

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after completing all five units (CO1–CO6, from the syllabus).

1
Understand

Describe steel sections, connections, foundations and roof trusses, and read their general-arrangement drawings.

2
Apply

Detail steel columns, joints and bases, including pre-engineered building frames.

3
Create

Detail steel beams, trusses, roofs and roof coverings, including the north-light truss and space frames.

4
Create

Detail steel floors and staircases and understand their construction.

5
Create

Detail steel doors, windows, shutters and partitions for safety and use.

6
Apply

Apply steel innovatively and appropriately in building projects.

Image credits

Every photograph is a verified Creative-Commons or Public-Domain work from Wikimedia Commons, used with attribution. The hand-drawn diagrams are original Studio Matrx work.

Build it in steel.

From the rolled section and the bolt to the truss, the floor and the rolling shutter. Read the five units, drive the explorers, then test yourself.

Open Unit I Back to Students

Studio Matrx is a tribute to Amogh N P. The curriculum is free, forever.