A Strategy for Evolution

Economics of stainless steel reinforcement in whole-life costing Dr Hywel Davies, who is Chairman of the BSI Committee B/500/3 on Durability, has written from Bedford: The project report on the Guildhall East development (The Structural Engineer, 8 December 1998) outlined the reasons behind the decision to use stainless steel reinforcement on this project.

Over the past century, many authors from diverse backgrounds have proposed a wide selection of what at first sight appear completely independent systems of structural stability functions. This paper examines in a historical review the merits of the various systems that have been proposed. It is then shown that, all systems set out to achieve the same basic result, they are interrelated. The paper then discusses which is the most appropriate set of functions for use with a matrix structural analysis format coupled with computation on a digital computer. Finally, some remarks are made on efficient methods for the computer generation of the numerical values of the various stability functions. R.J. Meagher

Mr B. L. Hurst (F) (Hurst Peirce & Malcolm) Thank you all for a fascinating paper and a splendid presentation. I am only sorry and surprised that so few people have attended to hear them. I had thought it would be crowded because of the important information you have provided about historic structural iron, its behaviour in fire, and the tests you carried out.