Eurocode portal frame design guide available

The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) has published its latest steel design guide ‘Design of Steel Portal Frame Buildings to Eurocode 3’.

The Publication (P399) covers portal frame design to BS EN 1993-1-1 and is available free to SCI and BCSA members at: www.steelconstruction.info

This new publication extends the previous guidance (which was limited to elastic design) and now covers frames designed plastically, with hinges in the members.

Containing 44 pages of worked example, the guide takes the result of a frame analysis to demonstrate the verification of members – columns, rafters, adjacent to plastic hinges, with and without intermediate restraints to the tension flange.

A comprehensive section of the example demonstrates the detailed verification of a haunch, including issues not explicitly covered in BS EN 1993-1-1. It is expected that the guidance in this publication will be implemented in bespoke software.

The SCI says this is a specialised guide, comprehensively demonstrating the application of the Eurocode rules to complex situations involving tapered members, a varying bending moment diagram and restraints to the tension flange. It is an essential guide for anyone with more than a passing interest in portal frame design.