Standards Development

Scope

This document deals with the design of steel-concrete composite (SC) structures comprising either:

- two steel plates with shear stud connectors connected by a grid of tie bars and having structural concrete between the plates (referred to as DSC), typically used for walls; or

- a steel plate with shear stud connectors and T stiffeners welded to the plate (referred to as SSC), typically used for floors.

This document gives basic rules for design, design for the construction stage and design for the accidental situation of fire exposure.

Purpose

The first twin-skin composite construction system was developed in the UK in the 1990s, however this was a proprietary system. A number of recent research projects have developed more generic forms of both single and double skins which will open up the ability to deliver this technology to a broad range of steelwork contractors. Industry is showing interest in these forms of construction, particularly for use in buildings that may be subject to blast and other extreme loading, buildings for the nuclear sector, and because of the speed of construction compared to traditional alternatives for some buildings (for example used in stability cores of high-rise buildings). The purpose of this Technical Specification is to give these forms of composite steel-concrete construction greater exposure, and credibility, and encourage more widespread (and correct) adoption of such solutions. The technology is not sufficiently mature – for use in a broader range of applications – to justify its inclusion in EN1994 itself.