Correspondence on The Use and Calibration of Design Standards for SHS Joints by J.A. Packer and Dr. G. Davies
Mr A. N. Beal (M)
(R. H. Thomason & Partners)
This paper is an interesting and valuable review of the current position on steel SHS
tube connection design. It is disturbing to learn that tubes are commonly undersized by
up to 6% in this country and 10% in the USA. It is even more disturbing to learn that
the IIW/Eurocode formulae on which British Steel has based its joint design guide ‘rely on a significant amount of over-run in the yield stress to achieve adequate safety levels’ and that British Steel’s recommended safe loads have been based on applying a safety factor of only 1.5 to these, rather than the 1.7 required by BS449.