Development of the use of stainless steel in construction

Stainless steel is gaining wide usage in construction due to its corrosion resistance, attractive appearance, ease of maintenance and fire resistance. Whilst it cannot replace carbon steel and other widely used construction materials, it has an important role where durability, safety or aesthetic requirements arise which cannot be cost effectively met by other materials. In spite of the benefits which stainless steel offers, its application in structures has been inhibited by a lack of design guidance that makes optimum use of its properties. Stainless steel exhibits fundamentally different material behaviour from carbon steel (e.g. non-linear stress-strain characteristics, varying elastic modulus, higher residual stresses). Therefore different design rules are applicable. The objective of this project was to disseminate the new design recommendations from the recently completed ECSC funded project, Development of the use of stainless steel in construction (contract 7210-SA/842). The principle deliverables were: Second edition of the design manual for structural stainless steel The First Edition of the Design Manual for Structural Stainless Steel was prepared by The Steel Construction Institute betwwen 1989 and 1992 and published by Euro Inox in 1994. The Second Edition includes the new and more economic design guidance generated in the previous ESCS funded project and has resulted in the scope of the Design Manual being extended to cover circular hollow sections and fire resistant design. Over the last ten years a great many new European standards have been issued covering stainless steel material, fasteners, fabrication, erection, welding etc. The Design Manual has been updated to make reference to current standards and data in these standards. The Design Manual was translated into German, Italian, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish and French and more than 6000 copies printed. The publication was advertised through mail shots, journals and on web sites across Europe, and copies setn free of charge on request. (So far, 2146 requests for the Design Manual have been received.) Design examples Ten new design examples were prepared to illustrate the application of the Recommendations in the Design Manual. Web based design facility An online design facility for designing cold-formed structural stainless steel sections was developed (http//www.steeless.org/software). The software calculates section properties and member resistances in accordance with the Recommendations in the Design Manual. The web software links to an online, fully searchable version of the Design Manual. Email addresses of users of the solftware are being collected and they indicate that the solftware is being used all over the world. Feedback from these users has been overwhelmingly positive. Seven national workshops Workshops were held in France, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK to lauch the Design Manual. The workshops described the bakcground and contents of the Design Manual, worked through design examples, discussed applications of stainless steel in construction and demonstrated the web software.