CIMSTEEL DESIGN GUIDES

CONNECTIONS PROCEDURES TO EC3

A series of Design Guides is being produced within the CIMsteel project, aimed at improving efficiency and facilitating the smooth adoption of Eurocodes.

Connection design and detailing is one of the most important tasks in the design of structural steelwork. It has the potential to exert a very large influence on the later fabrication and erection operations and thus to control both the economics and buildability. However it is normally undertaken at the end of the design process.

The forthcoming Eurocode, EC3, gives greater prominence to connection design than do national codes. More guidance is given to assist with the checking of particular connection details. Indirectly, the new code requires a more rigorous design approach to the influence exerted by connection behaviour on the performance of the structure.

The CIMsteel project is producing a series of Procedure Guides, offering detailed design procedures for the main forms of structural connection. These will form the basis for the CIMsteel Design Guide to Connection Procedures to EC3.

Utilising the concept of a component based approach, the Guides start with checks for single items, then incorporate several of these into more substantial component checks, before finally combining both types into the complete set of checks required for particular connection types. Some thirty different connection types, include simple connections, moment connections, the use of tubular members and composite action have been addressed.

The Guides form the basis of associated design software and are also suitable for use by others wishing to develop their own software. The resulting software may be used either as a stand-alone package or as modules for incorporation into integrated systems.

In the course of the Project, the ENV version of EC3 has been thoroughly examined and the logic of its various clauses tested.

These Guides, together with the resulting software, available 1994, offer designers an integrated approach to design and detailing. This provides the opportunity to make choices which are better informed, resulting in real time and cost savings.

Principal collaborators are:

PORTAL FRAME DESIGN TO EC3

A series of Design Guides is being produced within the CIMsteel project aimed at improving efficiency in the structural steelwork sector and at facilitating the smooth adoption of Eurocodes which will eventually replace national standards.

The portal frame buildings market is one of the largest and most efficient sectors of the UK steel construction sector. On mainland Europe, however, steel portal frames are not yet considered the obvious choice for single storey, industrial, retail and leisure buildings.

With the advent of EC3, the position of portal frames as an economic form of construction needs to be maintained to ensure their continued use in the UK and to open up new markets for steelwork throughout continental Europe.

The current ENV version of EC3 has been written mainly from the standpoint of multi-storey construction. It does not contain the wealth of guidance currently covered in some national codes.

The CIMsteel Design Guide for Portal Frame Design to EC3 will fill this gap by providing expert guidance on the use of existing clauses within EC3 as they affect portal frame design. It will also establish design rules for portal frames which are absent from EC3 but which satisfy its underlying principles. The most crucial areas in this respect are member stability and sway stability.

The Guide will enable designers, fabricators and their customers throughout Europe to benefit from the economic advantages of this structural form.

As well as providing methods for hand calculation in the design office, the Guide will provide rigorous comprehensive design models which can form the basis of new software products.

The work being undertaken on the Guide will enable authoritative comment on the application of EC3 to portal frame design to be submitted to the CEN Technical Committee responsible for the collation and review of comment on the ENV version prior to full publication and adoption of EC3.

Given the recognised benefits of the portal frame structural form for buildings, it will be strongly recommended that the Guide be incorporated into EC3 as a new Annex.

The CIMsteel Design Guide to Portal Frame Design to EC3 will be available in Summer 1994.

Principal collaborators are:

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURING

The CIMsteel Design for Manufacturing Guidelines offer the conceptual designer concise and accessible guidance on the principles of fabrication techniques and the main influences on manufacturing cost. It also includes quick assessment tools for defining frame connection requirements without making a full detailing assessment.

Accurate selection of initial sections for any steel building frame, together with the identification of the associated connection details required at component joints, significantly affects the total cost of the building as well as the chances of cost and programme over-run.

The comprehensive Design Guide covers:

Interspersed with the text are quick reference tables, diagrams and worked examples.

By using the information provided in the Guide, the designer can achieve real cost savings, both in direct fabrication costs and by reducing the risk of cost and programme over-run. The additional information which can easily be provided in the tender design documentation will reduce the likelihood of constructors claiming for unexpected complexities, saving the designer much time as the contract progresses. Fabricators too will benefit from the additional information provided, allowing them to estimate costs more accurately. Clients will benefit from a better product, greater certainty in tender costing leading to reduced claims.

The CIMsteel Design for Manufacturing Guidelines are scheduled for publication in Summer 1994.

Principal collaborators are:

Click here to see the full list of CIMsteel Collaborators

Related Documents

 

Introduction

Mission Statement

Codes of Practice

Analysis and Design

CIMsteel Design Guides

A Model Answer

Realising the Vision