ARE 725 Cold-Formed Steel Design

Header Beams

Spring 2015
Bill Zhang
K-State ARE
 Headers
• Headers and Beams
– Back‐to‐back (I‐beams)
• Made of two C‐section fastened through the 
webs with screws
– Box sections
• Made of two C‐sections with top and bottom 
tracks to for a rectangular “box” section.
– L‐headers

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BACK‐TO‐BACK BEAM HEADER

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BACK‐TO‐BACK BEAM HEADER

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BOX BEAM HEADER

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BOX BEAM HEADER
Top Track
Section

Screw Locations
Channel Sections

Bottom Track
Section

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L‐HEADER

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 Header Design
• AISI Standard S212 – North American 
Standard for Cold‐Formed Steel Framing—
Header Design

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 Header Design
• Back‐to‐Back Header Design
– Section B1 of AISI S212
– Bending: C3.1.1 and C3.1.2 of AISI S100
– Shear: C3.2 of AISI S100
– Web Crippling: C3.4, Table C3.4.1‐1 of AISI S100
– Combined Bending and Shear: C3.3 of AISI S100
– Combined Bending and Web Crippling: C3.5, Table 
C3.4.1‐1 for web crippling of AISI S100

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• Box Header Design
– Section B2 of AISI S212
– Bending: C3.1.1 and C3.1.2.2 of AISI S100
– Shear: C3.2 of AISI S100
– Web Crippling: C3.4, Table C3.4.1‐2 of AISI S100.  
For IOF loading use B2.3 of AISI S212.
– Combined Bending and Shear: C3.3 of AISI S100
– Combined Bending and Web Crippling: C3.5, Table 
C3.4.1‐1 of AISI S100 for web crippling or the 
equations in B2.5 of AISI S212 for IOF loading.
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• L‐Header Design
– Double L‐Headers B3 of AISI S212
– Single L‐Headers B4 of AISI S212
– Design for bending only when installed according 
to AISI S212.

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Box Header design example
Design a 6’‐0” span window header (back‐to‐back) 
supporting roof trusses on a 28’‐0” wide building with 
2’‐0” overhangs.
Given P P P

Trusses spaced at 2’‐0” o.c. 1' 2' 2' 1'

Roof dead load: D = 15 psf 6'

Roof snow load: S = 25 psf
Assume one truss will be at the center of the header 
span, therefore the header supports three trusses.
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