Trends in steel structures concerning materials, codes and applications

This paper gives an overview of recent trends in steel structures concerning materials, codes and applications. There is a trend towards using higher strength steel grades, and this asks for a different approach to the design of steel structures. Also work is underway for the next version of part 1-1 of Eurocode 3: EN 1993-1-1 [1]. Many design rules need improvement and the so- called ‘systematic review’ yielded topics that need to be considered. Amendments for EN 1993-1-1 were accepted already by the committee responsible for Eurocode 3, i. e. CEN/TC250/SC3, led very effectively by Prof. Ulrike Kuhlmann. The paper gives an impression of some of these amendments. The scope of the design rules will be extended, amongst others by including highstrength steel grades. Apart from trends in materials and codes, also trends can be observed regarding the applications of steel structures. Of course these trends in materials, codes and applications mutually influence each other.