Two-Way Steel Floor System Using Open-Web Joists

Minimizing floor-to-floor heights in mid- to high-rise buildings is a concern held by both engineers and architects. Many attempts have been made in steel construction to adopt design philosophies that utilize structural floor members with high span/depth ratios. These designs, however, have been limited to floor systems that predominantly span in one direction. The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the structural feasibility of interlocking open-web steel joists to form a panelized two-way steel floor system. This thesis includes a detailed discussion of the fabrication of the proposed floor system. A complete description of a proposed construction sequence is also presented. Finally, the structural behavior of the floor system is demonstrated under static loading. Conclusions were made discussing the benefits of this new system as well as recommendations for the direction of further investigation