1065x
004860
2020-12-07

Question

I am designing a frame with a taper (a docked cross-section). STEEL EC3 classifies the taper in Cross-Section Class 3. Accordingly, the elastic resistances are taken into account, which is very unfavorable. According to the standard, the taper should be categorized in Class 1, and thus the plastic reserve should also be usable.


Answer:

The plastic design requires known interaction conditions. These are provided by EN 1993‑1‑1 for standard cross-sections (I-sections, RRO, QRO, and so on) only. Cross-section checks and stability analyses for general cross-sections (such as the ICU-section that you are using) are therefore only possible elastically.

A plastic design of general cross-sections is possible with the STEEL Plasticity add-on module extension (Image 01). This module extension is also presented in the linked webinar.