Study Group News

Following the article in the May 1986 issue of The Structural Engineer (p137), the proposed layouts for each of the six floors in the Institution headquarters building at 11 Upper Belgrave Street are now shown.

Joints in steel frames In April Mr Denis Wall queried the detailing of knee joints in portal frames, with reference to the BCSA publication, Details of single-bay single-storey portal frame sheds. Mr L. H. Lewis of Banstead, Surrey, has now provided us with the following commentary: If we consider the column alone, with the rafter removed, and we replace the rafter with the forces it imposes on the column, we have the arrangement shown in Fig 1. Verulam

Despite the recent publication of new, revised and draft Codes of Practice for the structural use of various materials, the debate over the most suitable form for such documents does not lessen. To a degree, there is always likely to be argument as long as one document seeks to meet a range of contrasting requirements of, for example, designers and checkers, comprehensiveness and limitation of scope, continuity of approach, and response to new knowledge and developments. J.F.A. Moore