Traditionally, structural fire engineering design has been considered an area outside the scope of engineering design. In the United Kingdom, the Building Regulations specify minimum periods offire resistance for loadbearing elements depending on the function and size of the building. Fire statistics, particularly those related to fatalities, show that the Regulations huve been eflective in terms offire safety against structural collapse but are perhaps too conservative. N.P. Braimi and E.W. Marchant
The problem Over the past 30 years, the cost of plain steel sections in the UK has decreased dramatically relative to the unit cost of labour (Table 1). The labour-related items, or added value (e.g. drawing, fabrication, erection), constitute approximately 50% of the cost of even the simplest steel framed structure. It is evident, therefore, that the lowest cost steel frame will be the one in which the overall labour content is minimised. This is not to be confused with least weight structural solutions, which very rarely produce the most cost-effective designs. C. Gibbons
Current design guidelines on the capacity of T/Y-joints in circular hollow sections under out-of-plane moment loading are derived from a database having a limited range of geometric parameters. Although further test results have become available since, certain geometric parameters are still not adequately covered. This paper presents the results of an experimental and numerical study investigating the effects of the various geometric purameters as well as the influence of the tensile strength to yield stress ratio on the ultimate moment capacity. The results of this investigation show that, whilst the effect of the ratio is minimal, the effect of is very significant at the larger รข ratios and it has not been accounted for in existing design formulations. The finite element results obtained were used together with existing test data as the database in a statistical regression analysis, and a new capacity estimation equation is proposed. The new equation is found to be more accurate and reliable than those included in current design codes. M.M.K. Lee, E.M. Dexter and M.G. Kirkwood