Structures

The technical objective of the LVS3 project is to disseminate knowledge acquired in recent years about the environmental impact assessment of steel and composite buildings. During the last decade, a lot of research projects have been funded to develop methodologies, systems, and products aimed at improving thermal efficiency as well as the global environmental footprint of steel buildings. The new EN 15804 standard, intended for environmental calculation of buildings, now takes into account the fact that steel is a recyclable material (Module D).

Sustainability includes environmental, economic, and social concerns for achieving long-lasting development. Sustainability of construction comprises the major health and environmental aspects related to the life cycles of all types of buildings. A building’s life cycle includes production, use, deconstruction, the underlying activities, materials, and energy flows, all of which generate inevitable influence on the planet – both good and bad. Steel, as a building material, has undeniable and inherent advantages in this respect, among others, due to its mature process of recycling.

The aim of the dissemination project LVS3: Large Valorisation on Sustainability of Steel Structures (RFS2-CT-2013-00016) is to provide information on the different steps used for the environmental assessment of steel and composite buildings in AMECO software.

The software and documents were developed and validated within the scope of the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) project SB-Steel: Sustainability of Steel Buildings (SB_Steel, 2014).

The project was divided into four steps:

•     realisation of documentation and software about the sustainability of steel structures
•     translation of the documentation and software interface
•     training for partners involved in seminars
•     organisation of seminars in different European countries

The dissemination package available consists of different documents and software:

•     a design guide
•     a background document
•     AMECO software
•     an App version (mobiles/tablets) of LCA calculations available; also in the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android)
•     PowerPoint presentations
•     all of the documents translated into the majority of the European languages

All of the documents are also available on the following website dedicated to this project in (almost) all European languages: http://sustainable-steel.eu/

ArcelorMittal R&D contributed to a research and development project related to Standardization of Safety Assessment Procedures across Brittle to Ductile Failure Modes. The objective for this research and development project, called SAFEBRICTILE, was to develop a procedure for the safety assessment of the various failure modes that are relevant for steel structures.

Several objectives to fulfil

The following objectives have been fulfilled within SAFEBRICTILE:

1. Development of an objective and consistent assessment procedure for the safety assessment of the various failure modes that are relevant for steel structures. The unified procedure will cover: modes driven by plasticity + modes driven by stability + modes driven by fracture.
2. Development of a more complex procedure in which newly developed design rules are defined by a pre-established safety factor.
3. Reassessment of several rules in Eurocode 3 covering the failure modes treated in the project by applying the developed safety assessment procedures in order to check their compliance with the target failure probability.
4. Proposal of new or improved design rules for cases where deviations from the target failure probability were observed.
5. Conceptual development and further maintenance of a European database of steel properties resulting from experimental tests.

Conclusions

The report gives an overview of the reliability assessment of the Eurocode 3 design rules carried out within the project related to cross-sectional resistance; buckling resistance of columns, beams, and beam-columns; and weld resistance. It presents adjustments to these design rules proposed whenever it was necessary. It also establishes recommendations on the statistical distributions of the relevant basic variables for steel structures compiled in a European Database of Steel Properties that was also developed within the project.

Text: Constructalia
Photos: ©European Union

Flying over Germany's highest mountain

At 2962 metres, Zugspitze is Germany's highest mountain and highest ski resort. There, you can enjoy powdery ski slopes in the winter and hiking trails in the summer. To transport visitors to the summit, a new cable car was installed. Its construction involved HD profiles supplied by ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products and ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions in Neckarsulm.

The world's highest structural support for aerial tramways

After three years of planning and construction, Zugspitze’s new cable car started its ascent last winter. For this unique project, our colleagues at ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, together with ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions, delivered HD profiles in steel grade S355 J2, which were used to build the structure of the cable car. The beams were produced in ArcelorMittal’s Differdange mill in Luxembourg, where they were cut to length, and the team at ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions in Neckarsulm sold the final products to the customer.

Zugspitze's cable car holds three world records:

1. First, the particularity of this cable car is that instead of using two supports, it only has one support measuring 127 metres high making it the tallest tramway support in the world.
2. Then, the distance between the support and the mountain summit station is 3213 metres.
3. Finally, another unique feature is the height difference of 1945 metres between the valley station and the mountain summit station.

A new era

The modern cable car is a strong investment marking the beginning of a new era for the Zugspitze mountain.The 50-million-euro project has been providing visitors with maximum comfort and giving tourism a boost throughout the region.

So far, around half a million visitors are transported annually, but the historic Eibsee cable car from 1963 reached the limits of its transport capacity on peak days. The new cable car should attract about 10 percent more passengers, which means an increase for the entire, predominantly touristy, region.

The two new cabins with a sparkling new and elegant design can carry up to 120 passengers each with the floor-to-ceiling glazed open-plan cabins offering grandiose panoramic views of Germany's highest peak. They now guides alpinists, summer hikers, winter sports enthusiasts, and tourists from all over the world to the mountain top.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
    
Photos: ©Victor Maschek / Shutterstock.com  ©Trey Waggener / Shutterstock.com

These best practice design manuals consist of a series of technical guides for engineering offices, steel fabricators, and architects that aim at facilitating the application of the Eurocodes in the design of single-storey and multi-storey steel buildings.

The presented design manuals consist of a series of technical guides facilitating the application of the Eurocodes in the design of single-storey and multi-storey steel buildings.

These design manuals are helpful for steel fabricators and engineering offices, but the presentation of the advantages and possibilities of the use of steel also applies to architects. They provide a useful source of knowledge for designers in accordance with the Eurocodes and include topics such as numerous design details, fire engineering issues, member and connection resistance calculators, etc.

The design guides 'Single-Storey Steel Buildings' and 'Multi-Storey Steel Buildings' were produced in the framework of the European project 'Facilitating the market development for sections in industrial halls and low rise buildings (SECHALO) RFS2-CT-2008-0030', which was carried out with a financial grant from the European Union's Research Fund for Coal and Steel.

The design guides were prepared under the direction of ArcelorMittal, Peiner Träger, and Corus. The technical content was prepared by CTICM and SCI, collaborating as the Steel Alliance.