UK market increasingly moves to high grade SHS

Citation

(2000), "UK market increasingly moves to high grade SHS", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 47 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2000.12847bad.005

UK market increasingly moves to high grade SHS

UK market increasingly moves to high grade SHS

Keyword: Corus Tubes

Corus Tubes, formerly British Steel Tubes & Pipes, reports a growing trend toward its high grade (EN 10210 S355J2H) hot finished structural hollow section (SHS).

"This trend is good news for the construction industry as the reduction in weight due to the high capacities available with S355 more than offsets any cost difference", explains Eddie Hole, Manager Market Development at Corus Tubes. The use of high grade is now also thought to becoming the general practice in mainland Europe.

"A word of warning though for designers", adds Eddie Hole. "It is as important as ever to specify hot finished sections correctly. You must specify the full EN10210 S355J2H designation. Failure to do so could result in the supply of cold formed sections, which can be up to 34 per cent lower in capacity for the same section size and grade."

Designers are said to only need minor changes to their procedures to fully capitalize on the increased design capacities of the S355 sections and make their structures more economical.

Corus Tubes believes that substantial economies can be made with the use of S355 grade hollow sections in all conditions where strength is concerned. According to the company the 29 per cent increase in yield strength compared with S275 can be used directly in structural design. The only time it cannot be fully used is in the case of compression members. In these instances the increase is at its maximum for short struts, with a reduction as the effective length increases.

Corus Tubes has also expanded its range of Structural Hollow Section (SHS) with the introduction of "Jumbo" hot-finished section of 800 x 800 x 60mm thick.

Corus collaborated with the Nakajima Steelpipe Company of Japan to extend its range of hot-finished SHS. It supplied the technical know-how for Nakajima's new hot shaping mill which produces the large hot-finished Rectangular Hollow Section (RHS) that Corus Tubes markets as Jumbo RHS.

Peter Bisseker, Manager Technical Marketing at Corus Tubes, says: "This extension to the range is very important in Japan where seismic conditions have to be catered for. The Japanese experts in structures for seismic loading have design recommendations favouring hot rolled sections. The specification of hot rolled RHS is clearly important in all areas around the world subject to earthquakes such as California, Turkey, Greece, Italy and China.

"Typically these very large structural hollow sections are used as multi-storey columns and other members taking high compression loads. They have already been used in Japan for a number of large office buildings."

Corus has exclusive marketing rights for Nakajima produced Jumbo RHS in Europe. They enable Corus to continue to offer the construction industry the largest range of hollow sections in the world, now catering for compression loads up to 50,000kN. Compression capacity and fire resistance can be significantly increased by filling the columns with concrete.

Previously, projects needing such large hollow sections had to have them fabricated from steel plate. With the extension of the Jumbo RHS range Corus offers the construction industry and heavy engineering a product for slim, heavily loaded structures.

The Nakajima mill, with a capacity of 230,000 tonnes per year, was already supplied by Corus hot-rolled coil, so it was natural for the companies to extend the relationship with technical collaboration.

Details available from: Corus Tubes. Fax: +44 (0) 1536 404049.