Design of Structural Connections to Eurocode 3


Developments in the design, fabrication and erection of steel structures together with the introduction of new high performance materials have lead to significant changes in the design, buildability and performance of steel structures and in particular their connections. Early steel structures used riveted connections but following technological developments shop welded and site bolted connections are now common place. The introduction of high strength steels has increased the types and grades of bolt available to the designer. The range of bolts now includes ordinary strength steels bolts such as grades 4.5, 4.6 and 5.6 and high strength steel bolts such as grades 8.8, 10.9 and 12.9. Developments in automatic fabrication have seen a move away from manually produced drawings and setting out to sophisticated design software directly connected to numerically controlled machines for laser cutting, punching and drilling. The quality of welding has also improved with the introduction of continuous casting of steel and welding robots.







Introduction

These changes and in particular the increase in the use of automated design and fabrication

have lead to an increase in quality and standardization in comparison with other structural materials. Today steel connections are economical to fabricate and erect, have a high inherent level of safety and can help the architect produce elegant and practical structures.


To take advantage of the wide range of steel products and technological developments that

exist within the different European countries, the European Union created a set of common design standards for the design, fabrication and construction of steel structures. These standards are called the Eurocodes and have been developed over many years to take advantages of the different techniques available within the different member states. At the time of writing the Eurocodes are still pre-standards [ENV 1992-1-1, 1992; ENV 1993-1-1, 1992; ENV 1999-2, 1999] but within one or two years they will be converted to full Euro-norms that will eventually replace the existing National codes [prNV 1992-1-1, 2003; prEN 1993-1-2, 2003; prEN 1993-1-8: 2003]. At the inception of the Eurocode for steel structures (Eurocode 3) the importance of structural connections was recognized and a specific standard for the design of steel connections was created. This standard is part of the main steel Eurocode and is called prEN1993-1-8 - Design of Joints.


As part of the development of the early versions of Eurocode 3, background documents were

prepared summarizing best practice in the design and use of bolts and welds [see Snijder 6.01 and 6.05]. Furthermore, the design models for each of these components was validated against available test data before being included in the European standard.


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