We have been putting off making a decision about our Annual Event to see if a physical meeting would be possible. We have now accepted that will not happen - there are currently too many unknowns (and at the time of writing - 19th July - there seem to be lots of negatives despite restrictions being lifted by the Government). Our plans are therefore less well developed than we would have hoped. However, despite not yet having a definitive programme we recognise that 'sustainability' particularly carbon and climate change is very much on everybody's agenda at the moment. It feels like only yesterday we were undertaking RFCS funded research to look at demountable solutions (which led to our publication P428 Guidance on Demountable Composite Construction Systems for UK Practice), and already we are receiving requests for help from practitioners wanting to implement this sort of product. So will we have a key focus on 'net zero' solutions, and will report on the various decarbonisation initiatives that the sector, in particular the steel producers, have embarked upon. In recent months we have also identified a number of areas where we believe we can help the UK steel construction sector meet its needs through the provision of new services and products. These include Trimble TEDDs modules aimed at designers, the first three of which will be launched by the end of 2021. Less well developed is a service for assessing the thermal performance of details for light steel framing - we will present case studies of assessing performance in fire (as reported previously in Connect), and outline our plans to provide thermal modelling consultancy to assess condensation risk etc.

Figure 3.8 Junction between separating floor and brick-clad façade wall

Figure 3.9 Temperature distribution for junction between separating floor and brick-clad façade wall

The series of Composite Construction conferences has become a 'must-attend' for all those with a serious technical interest in composite construction. The ninth edition will be held in Stromberg Germany - although virtually - from the 27th to 29th July. The programme covers a range of diverse topics and, despite being virtual, includes some musical interludes including live Jazz. Nice. SCI's Graham Couchman is a member of the Scientific Committee for the conference, and as such will be chairing a session on Innovative Solutions on the morning of the 29th. He is also co-author of a plenary paper on European code development, being presented by Prof. Stephen Hicks from the University of Warwick (who is of course an SCI alumnus). This kind of activity helps us stay abreast of relevant developments, so we can then provide leading edge support to our members and clients. Conversely, we try to use our practical experience to help researchers stay focused on real issues.

For more information on this event go to the Composite Construction IX website.

1-3 September 2021 - online event

As part of Eurosteel 2021 SCI's Nancy Baddoo and Francisco J. Meza together with Leroy Gardner, Imperial College, will be presenting on:
Development of Flexural Buckling Rules for the New AISC Stainless Steel Design Specification

Nancy will also be presenting on:
Recent developments of stainless steels in structural applications

For information on this event go to the Eurosteel website

The new Advisory Desk service emails sent this month included;

Advisory Desk Note - AD 417
Resistance of sections to combined shear and bending

Advisory Desk Note - AD 468
Error in P359 formula for shrinkage-induced deflection of a composite slab

If you are an SCI Sole Trader or Corporate Member and not receiving these email alerts go to the SCI Information Portal and in your Profile click on notifications/alerts and select the notifications you require.

All the Advisory Desk Notes and Questions and Answers together with other technical resources are all available at all times on the SCI Information Portal.

For SCI Sole Trader and Corporate members, SCI offers support through our Advisory Desk Service. For questions asked which we feel are pertinent to the wider member audience we publish anonymously the questions and answers.

Where some questions relate to SCI Publications we publish the question and answers in Connect.

This month our published question is about;
Internal pressure coefficients

Question: In BS EN 1991-1-4, how does one determine the internal coefficient of a building in accordance with equation 7.3 and graph 7.13?

Please see the answer to this Advisory Question/Answer - Ref No AD_QA_7160-21 and all Advisory questions on the SCI Information Portal.

The Advisory Desk Service is for SCI Corporate and Sole Trader Members advisory@steel-sci.com | +44 (0) 1344 636525

SCI Online Training Courses

Our public courses and webinars are taking a holiday for the month of August, starting again in September. If you can't wait that long please contact us to discuss the benefits of specific training delivered directly to your company (online or inhouse). Direct training provides an opportunity to ensure the training content is based around your own projects to perfectly suit your business needs. Please contact SCI Education to discuss.

Our next course in September is:

Steel Building Design to EC3 - Online Course
Delivered in 4 sessions:
Part 1: 09 September 21
Part 2: 10 September 21
Part 3: 15 September 21
Part 4: 16 September 21

Each session will run from 10:00-12:00 (BST)

As the experts in steel design, the SCI have prepared this course as an overview of the Eurocode provisions for steel building design. The course focuses on orthodox construction, covering the primary design issues for practicing engineers. The course follows the process of determining actions, considering combinations of actions, frame analysis and the assessment of second order effects. The course will then demonstrate how the resistances of members are calculated, or can be extracted immediately from resources such as the 'Blue Book'.

This course will explain:

• Loading and load combinations
• Imperfections in members and frames
• Frame stability - the significance of second order effects
• Brittle fracture
• Member resistance - classification, cross sectional and buckling checks
• Connection design

This course will equip any engineer with:

• An overview of the Eurocode suite of design documents, and the critical importance of the National Annexes
• How the appropriate steel sub-grade is determined
• A good understanding of the important ULS and SLS load combinations from EN 1990
• A good understanding of the key parts of BS EN 1993-1-1
• A set of numerical examples covering frame stability, axial resistance, LTB and combined axial load and bending
• A good understanding of connection design to
  BS EN 1993-1-8

Member Rate - £250.00
SCI Non-Member - £330.00

Register for this event here.

Next SCI Member webinar is;

Fire resistant design of steel structures
Webinar - 14 September 21
Time: 12:30-13:30

Often, designers simply design for resistance at normal temperatures and expect the structure to be fire protected. But a little engineering can be used to calculate more realistic behaviour and to demonstrate the adequacy of the structure under fire conditions. Complex calculations can be avoided by the use of freely available design tools.

Register here to view this webinar

For a list of webinars and on-line public courses visit the
SCI Information Portal

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