ArcelorMittal has launched a new reference guide for engineers and fabricators, which will serve as an essential aid in the design of steel buildings and structures: the Orange Book.

Comprehensive tables of member resistances are given to enable rapid selection of steel members in compression, bending and tension. Tables are also provided for combined bending and compression, web resistance and shear resistance.

Steel product ranges include:

• S355/HISTAR®355 and S460/HISTAR®460 for structural steel sections
• S355, S420 and S460 steel grades for heavy plates.
• S350GD, S390GD, S420GD, S450 GD & S550 GD for metallic coated steels

Click here to visit ArcelorMittal's Orange Book!

In late 2017, the world’s first floating wind farm will begin producing energy off the east coast of Scotland. The 258-metre high turbines float on the surface of the sea thanks to large steel cylinders which extend around 80 metres below the surface of the sea. The new technology, first demonstrated by the energy firm Statoil in Norway, allows wind turbines to be deployed in deeper waters, vastly increasing the areas available to generate clean energy.

New technology generates energy from floating wind turbines

Floating offshore wind farms were only a concept until Statoil successfully demonstrated the technology would work in the Norwegian Sea. The company is now building the pilot floating wind farm which is positioned at Buchan Deep, approximately 25 km east of Peterhead (Scotland).

The five floating turbines that make up the pilot project were produced by Siemens and have a nominal capacity 6 megawatts each. Statoil’s proprietary Hywind pitch controller is integrated into the turbine to mitigate excessive motion. Hywind also minimises energy losses due to aerodynamic or hydrodynamic movements, maximising output from the turbine.

Heavy plate creates floating foundation

The floating foundations – each with a diameter of 14.4 metres at their widest point – were constructed using heavy naval plates (grades NV36D and NV36E) from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products. The foundations were built by Navantia-Windar in Spain with plate supplied from ArcelorMittal Gijón (Spain).

“ArcelorMittal was chosen as the customer appreciates our short delivery times. They also had confidence in the quality of our steels and ability to react swiftly to unexpected challenges which arise in a project of this size and scale,” says Luis Rodríguez Hevia, heavy plate account manager for ArcelorMittal Asturias. “ArcelorMittal Gijón is also close to the customer’s own premises which helps to eliminate delays.”
Each foundation is composed of a series of ring sections with internal reinforcements. They form two watertight compartments and extend 80 metres beneath the sea surface. The lower compartment holds water and rock ballast, and is designed to provide stability in severe weather conditions.

Bright new future for wind energy

The structure is being floated into position and anchored to the seabed with mooring lines attached to anchors on the seabed. Construction of the foundation structures began at Navantia during January 2016 with the last unit delivered at the end of May 2017. The wind farm is expected to start generating energy by the end of 2017.

Floating structures offer cost-effective clean energy generation in a wider range of locations. While monopile and jacket foundations can be successfully utilised in shallow waters (up to 50 metres deep), floating wind turbines can be deployed in deeper waters such as those found off Europe’s Atlantic coast or in the Mediterranean Sea. The increased flexibility of floating turbines offers a bright new future for clean and renewable wind energy.

The world’s first floating offshore windfarm – off the east coast of Scotland – will feature some 5,300 tonnes of ArcelorMittal heavy plate.

Produced in Gijón, Spain, the ArcelorMittal naval heavy plates in grades NV36D and NV36E will be used to construct the windfarm’s five floating structures, which will be located at Buchan Deep – some 25 km east of Peterhead.  

Joint venture Navantia-Windar selected ArcelorMittal as its steel supplier for the project because the company offered several key customer benefits. The contract was awarded by Statoil subsidiary Hywind Scotland Ltd.

Luis Rodríguez Hevia, of ArcelorMittal Asturias’ commercial department, said: “Several factors made ArcelorMittal the ideal supplier for this project: our proximity to the customer’s premises, our short delivery times, the quality of our steels, and our ability to react quickly to the unforeseen challenges that are possible with a project of this size and scale”.

Weighing 3,500 tonnes, and measuring 14.4m at their widest point, the windfarm structures are large steel cylinders that extend some 100m beneath the sea surface – each attached to the seabed in a mooring system.

Composed of a series of ring sections with internal reinforcements, each structure comprises two watertight compartments. The lower compartment was designed to provide floating stability in severe weather conditions, holding a ballast of water and rocks.

Delivery of the heavy plate by ArcelorMittal’s Gijón site began in December 2015 and will be completed in May 2016.

Construction of the windfarm began in January this year and will require around 450,000 hours of work.

Find HERE all there is to know about ArcelorMittal's heavy plate offer.

Image credit: Ian Dick

Rotterdam's Timmerhuis, a mixed use building dating back to the 1950ies in the center of the Dutch city, is being rebuilt in steel: ArcelorMittal supplied steel beams and tailormade plates for the building's structure.

In the early 1950s, Rotterdam began a programme to reconstruct the city’s centre, much of which had been destroyed during World War 2. One of the first buildings to be completed was the Timmerhuis on a site near Rotterdam Town Hall. The Timmerhuis included offices and shops and quickly became an icon of downtown Rotterdam.

After more than 50 years of use, the Timmerhuis fell into disrepair. Rotterdam City Council decided to demolish the existing structure and build a new Timmerhuis which is in keeping with the city’s philosophy of creating a sustainable ‘living city’. To meet this brief, the new Timmerhuis will also include more than 90 apartments as well as shops, offices and parking.

Steel by ArcelorMittal

The new Timmerhuis has already earned the nickname ‘The Cloud’ thanks to its unique steel skeleton. It has allowed the architects to design a building which appears to be floating above the open space at ground floor level.

Construction is being carried out by CSM Steelstructures – a renowned builder of high-quality steel buildings. ArcelorMittal is the sole supplier of the steel quarto plates and profiles which will form the structure of the building and allow it to be completed quickly.

Work on the building’s steel skeleton began at the end of November 2013 with the goal of delivering the completed Timmerhuis by early 2015.

Koen Winters, Manager of CSM’s Purchasing Department, explains the advantages of using ArcelorMittal steel in the new Timmerhuis: “The plates from ArcelorMittal have low equivalent carbon content (CEV). This increases our efficiency as we need less heating in the shop. We can also order what we need directly from the factory so we have the exact sizes and number of profiles or plates that we need for the project. That results in less waste and reduces the number of penetration welds required.

Excellent BREEAM rating

The design of the new Timmerhuis has already led to the building receiving an ‘Excellent’ rating under the internationally recognised BREEAM methodology (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology). BREEAM is one of the most important and widely used systems to measure the sustainability characteristics of modern buildings.

Factors influencing the ‘Excellent’ score include the use of steel (which can be completely recycled at the end of the building’s life) and the fact that the steel travels by sea from the mill in Gijón (Spain) to Vlissingen (the Netherlands). “ArcelorMittal is also ISO 14001 certified,” explains Winters. “This was an added advantage in the allocation of this order.”

A high level of logistical service

Unique plates require unique service

Three main structural steel grades have been used in the plates for the Timmerhuis: S355J0+N, S355J2+N and S355K2+N. These steels have a guaranteed minimum yield and tensile strength. They are suitable for most construction applications.

Many of the plates were ordered with specific Z-tests (Z15, Z25, Z35) and a US-test (S1E1) to establish the through thickness ductility of the steel. This was necessary because the main structure consists of ‘Vierendeel’ beams with full penetration welds between columns and beams.

Almost every plate in the new Timmerhuis is tailor-made to specific dimensions. This enabled the client to minimise waste as each plate has its own unique place in the construction.

“All of the plates for the Timmerhuis have been delivered to the customer and they are very satisfied with our service,” notes Nicolas Dujardin. “I would like to thank everybody who has made this project a success. ArcelorMittal was able to provide outstanding service, comparable with that of a local mill, but from a distance. Because ArcelorMittal is able to offer this level of service, we will continue to capture interesting steel construction projects in Western Europe.”

Timmerhuis in numbers

The budget for the new Timmerhuis is around €95 million. More than 1,800 tonnes of beams and 2,000 tonnes of plate have been supplied to the project by ArcelorMittal. When complete, the complex will provide:

- 91 apartments with a mix of large and small living spaces
- 120 underground parking places
- 7,000 m² of public and commercial space including facilities for the Rotterdam City Administration
- 15,000 m² of offices

Text: ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe
Pictures: CSM