ECCS news last ECCS TC3 Annual Meeting held at the Steel Construction Institute (SCI), Sunningdale Park, Ascot, UK on 22 and 23 September 2016. Recent topics discussed within TC3 include the following: – Tensile membrane action of composite slabs in fire – Fire walls made of lightweight sandwich panels – Concrete-filled stainless steel tubular columns in fire – The influence of hot-dip galvanization on temperature development in unprotected steel members in fire – Fire resistance of composite integrated beams (slim-floor beams) – Temperature assessment of a vertical steel member subjected to localized fire – Fire scenarios in suspended ceilings and hollow floors – Fire behaviour of prefabricated composite floors with steel dowels – High-strength steel members in fire – Default critical temperatures of steel members with a class 4 cross-section – Fire design of steel structures with intumescent coatings – Behaviour of cold-formed steel elements in fire – Assessment of existing structures in fire The next meeting of TC3 is scheduled for 5 and 6 October 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland.
News from TC7 – TWG 7.9 ECCS TC7 TWG 7.9 has just started work on a European Recommendation (ER) for the design of sandwich panels carrying point or line loads. Examples of such loads are photovoltaic installations on roofs or additional cladding on walls, i.e. non-structural components fastened to the sandwich panel. The ER deals with the design of the panels for these loads and also with the design of the fastenings for the nonstructural components. Design rules are given in the main text; basically, they are amendments to existing design rules (e.g. from EN 14509). Each subsection concludes with examples. The annex to the ER describes the determination of resistance values, each value in a separate annex. The determination may be based on calculations or tests (verification of calculated/theoretical values only or wholly based on tests).
TC8 News Twenty-six full members and 10 corresponding members from 18 European
and North American countries currently constitute TC8 “Structural Stability”. The technical committee is active in the field of the stability of steel structures. The aim of TC8 is to provide scientifically sound input on stability design rules to code-writing bodies – in particular, CEN/TC 250/SC 3 and its Project Team and Working Group on EN 19931-1 – and to consult with these bodies. The main committee concentrates on the stability of individual members (beams and columns) and skeletal structures (frames and trusses), whereas its Technical Working Groups focus on the stability of plate (TWG 8.3, convenor: Prof. Ulrike Kuhlmann) and shell (TWG 8.4, convenor: Prof. J. Michael Rotter) structures. The committee meets twice a year and the last meeting of TC8 was in Barcelona on 4 November 2016. The agenda included a discussion about the progress of an intended publication on the “Design of Slender Steel Structures by FEM”. This publication will contain some theoretical background, recommendations for the numerical analysis of structural components and examples for validation and benchmarks, with a special focus on information relevant for practitioners. Another discussion focused on important items for investigation and research in the future. These items include the following: – numerical methods in stability – global behaviour of structures (system approach) – imperfections and residual stress distributions to be used for stability rules – general method – high-strength steel members During the meeting, seven other presentations were delivered by members and guests: Joachim Lindner gave a presentation on initial bow imperfections. Jozsef Szalai and Ferenec Papp presented a study on the safety assessment of different stability design methods for beam-columns. Alain Bureau reviewed a simplified method for verifying lateral torsional buckling resistance. This method is based on the principle that the member resistance may be verified by checking the lateral buckling resistance of the compressed flange. Gunnar Solland gave a presentation on requirements for structural ductility. Trayana Tankova and Luís Simoes da Silva reported about a recent experimental and numerical study on the buckling behaviour of web-tapered beams.
Benjamin Launert and Hartmut Pasternak gave a progress report on the development of methods for the consideration of welding imperfections in stability verification rules. Andreas Taras presented an analytical formulation for in-plane beam-column buckling which makes use of the generalized slenderness concept. The following members attended the meeting: David Brown, Marc Braham, Alain Bureau, Rolando Chacon (local host), Luís Simoes da Silva, Dan Dubina, Markus Knobloch (Technical Secretary), Ulrike Kuhlmann, Benjamin Launert (guest), Joachim Lindner, Enrique Mirambell (guest), Ferenc Papp, Bert Snijder (Chairman), Gunnar Solland, Richard Stroetmann, Jozsef Szalai, Trayana Tankova (guest), Andreas Taras, Carlo Urbano. The next TC8 meeting will take place in Dresden on 19 May 2017.
News from the TC11 Prof. Riccardo Zandonini has stepped down as Chairman of TC11 in order to devote himself completely to a new engagement as Senator of the University of Trento. A workshop on composite construction entitled “Latest developments in research, standardization and practice” was held in Delft on 20 October 2016. The event was jointly organized by Milan Veljkovic and Roland Abspoel of TU Delft and by a TC11 committee to express the great appreciation for Prof. Riccardo Zandonini’s outstanding and dedicated service to ECCS. Fifteen speakers, invited from among European scholars, presented the results of their research and standardization activities. Prof. Roberto Leon also took part in the meeting by means of a video link and provided insights into recent developments in composite structures in the USA. The TC11 six-monthly meeting was held on 21 October. During the meeting, the state of the art document on shear connections was approved and the procedure for the final publication was set in motion. A second document on perforated shear connections was discussed and has achieved the preliminary approval of TC11. At the end of the meeting, TC11 suggested Prof. Jean-François Demonceau as a possible new Chairman to the Technical Management Board, in accordance with ECCS rules. The next meeting of ECCS-TC11 will be on 28 April 2017 (venue to be decided).
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