Publications
In This Section
Design Guides
AISC has produced more than 35 Design Guides to provide detailed information on topics related to structural steel design and construction.
Design Guides are available as downloadable PDF documents. Downloads are free for AISC members. Design Guides are also available in printed form. Select your format preference to the left to browse our collection.
Notes
- Please be mindful of the publication date of each Design Guide and the standards to which it was written. In the time since each Design Guide was published, changes have occurred in the structural steel industry. One significant change is that all channels, plates, and angles are now more commonly 50 ksi material rather than 36 ksi material; please refer to the AISC Steel Construction Manual Part 2 for preferred materials.
- We have created a handy summary of each Design Guide publication date and the AISC standards and manuals referenced therein in the Design Guide Summary link to the left.
- Check for any revisions and errata at the link to the left.
Featured Design Guides
Design Guide 1: Base Connection Design for Steel Structures (Third Edition)
This guide covers detailed analysis and design guidance on base connections. Years of research contributed to the significant expansions included in the design guide in areas of seismic design and embedded base connection design. Guidance is also offered on the simulation of base connections in finite element models. Extensive design examples are included.
Be sure to check out the bonus material links on the product pages!
Design Guide 40: Rain Loads and Ponding
This design guide provides an in-depth review of rain loads and ponding effects to help design professionals properly and efficiently design for ponding on roofs constructed with structural steel, open web steel joists, and joist girders. It includes several recommended methods of analysis that can be used to consider the effects of ponding, methods of design accounting for ponding effects, and a presentation of the SJI Roof Bay Analysis Tool. These methods are thoroughly discussed and then demonstrated with many helpful design examples.
Be sure to check out the bonus material link on the product pages!
Design Guide 24: Hollow Structural Section Connections (Second Edition)
This updated design guide updates AISC’s resources for HSS connection design, greatly expanding upon the background discussion for each connection. The thorough explanations of the relevant limit states and the experimental results for each connection lend the reader an invaluable insight into the rationale behind each connection design procedure. The expanded guide includes many new connection types and a dozen new design examples.
Design Guide 39: End-Plate Moment Connections
This design guide centralizes AISC’s existing design procedures for end-plate moment connections (Design Guides 4, 16, and AISC 358-22 Chapter 6) into a single consistent document. It includes an extensive literature review, thorough discussions of design concepts, updated design procedures consistent with the latest research, and many (33!) design examples. The design procedures now also cover an expanded 15 end-plate configurations. This Design Guide serves as a comprehensive resource for the understanding and design of end-plate moment connections.