FEATURE

How to Specify Steel

Design leads to specification
Roger Pope
Designers and specifiers of structural steelwork need to ensure that their requirements are made clear to steelwork
contractors. This is a guide to the relevant European steel product standards.
As the scheme design develops, decisions are
made about the locations of str uctural
members, and the loads they have to sustain.
In some cases there may be architectural
constraints or preferences that might lead to a
Universal Column (UC) being used as a beam
or hollow sections to be preferred to open
sections. By the time the scheme design is
complete and ready for the detail design to
commence it should be possible to identify the
size, shape and design grade for every main
member.
The design grades commonly used in the UK
are S275 (mild steel grade 43 of old) and S355
(high yield steel grade 50). In continental
Europe S235 is nearly always preferred to
S275. The grade designation represents the
nominal yield stress for S = structural
steels, as most design rules are parameterised
in terms of the yield stress.
The range of shapes (sections as we call
them; profiles as they are termed on the
continent) is very wide. Hollow sections are
standardised across Europe in metric sizes.
Grades, section dimensions and tolerances are
given in EN 10210 for hot-finished hollow
sections (CHS, SHS and RHS), and in EN 10219
for cold-formed hollow section. The shapes,
grades and capacities of hot-finished and coldformed hollow sections with the same nominal
dimensions are not directly equivalent and
care needs to be taken in substituting one for
the other.
For open sections only the g rades are
standardised across Europe. The UK and
Ireland generally use sections rolled to BS 4
which has metric sizes that are conversions of
imperial sizes (36 becomes 914mm), whereas
on the continent sizes are properly metric. We
use the terms UB (universal beam) and UC,
whereas on the continent columns are Hsections (HEA etc) and beams are I-sections
(IPE etc).
UK specialists claim that comparison of the
aspect ratios and other shape characteristics
of, say, UB sections compared with IPE
profiles will reveal that the UB range is more
extensive and more structurally efficient.
However, the efficiency of a shape does depend
on its design grade and the development of
code rules (e.g. for buckling of thin flange
outstands). Theoretically shapes might have
changed over the years as code rules have, but
this has not occurred as there is considerable

manufacturing and construction advantage in

continuing to use shapes that match previous
production.
In addition, the ambitious designer can design
a bespoke shape or select one from the ranges
offered by manufacturers of welded profiles. It
has been common for plate girders or heavy
columns to be made from plates, but in the UK
there has been relatively little take-up for
beam sizes below 1000mm or columns below
350mm that overlap with the hot-rolled section
range. In contrast, the market for welded
profiles is more developed on the continent
with French manufacturers offering sizes as
small as 150mm deep. One feature that welded
profiles (or compound sections) facilitate is the
production of shapes that are asymmetric in
dimensions or which have differing grades in
flange and web, although Corus market hotrolled ASBs as a commercial response to this.
So, scheme design is complete and the size and
design grade for every member has been
decided. End of story?
No purchasing of steel products requires
other specification decisions to be made, and
in particular the subgrade ne eds to be
specified as without it the order is incomplete.
Considering the designation S275J2 it is J2
that is the subgrade and it represents the
notch ductility of the steel and serves to
ensure that the steel is sufficiently tough in
resisting fracture.
However, before the choice of subgrade is
explored, it should be noted that specifying
the grade S275 automatically ensures more
than just a guaranteed minimum nominal
yield strength of 275 MPa. By reference to EN
10025 it also ensures ductility and weldability.

Steel product standards

In 2003, the steel product standards for the
whole range of weldable structural steels used
onshore are being amalgamated into one
standard EN 10025. This will bring together
the following standards in Parts 2 to 6
respectively of the new EN 10025:
EN 10025 Non-alloy steels that contain less
than 1.65% Mn, 0.30% Ni, 0.30% Cr etc (in
grades S235, S275, S355 and the rarely
specified S450).
EN 10113-2 Normalized or normalized
rolled fine grain alloy steels (grades S275N,
S355N, S420N and S460N being
additionally designated as, say, S275NL if

the grade has improved low temperature

notch ductility).
EN 10113-3 Thermomechanical rolled fine
grain steels (grades S275M, S355M, S420M
and S460M also with ML possibility as for
N/NL).
EN 10155 Weather-resisting steels with
improved atmospheric corrosion resistance
(grades S235W, S355W and S355WP if the
grade has higher phosphorus content).
EN 10137-2 Quenched and tempered steels
(grades S460Q, S500Q, S550Q, S620Q,
S690Q, S890Q and S960Q again with
improved low temperature performance
possibilities designated as L and L1, eg
S690QL1).
For each grade strength (both yield and
tensile), ductil ity (as elongation at normal
ambient temperature) and weldabil ity (as
carbon equivalent value based on chemical
composition) are given for differing
thicknesses. Taking material nominally 50mm
thick in S355NL from EN 10025-3 as an
example:
Minimum yield strength is 335 MPa (note
that as thickness increases the value drops
from the 355 value associated with the
grade designation for the thinnest sections,
and also that for higher strength steels that
have no yield plateau what is termed
yield is defined by EN 10025-1 as the
0.2% proof stress which is taken as the
elastic limit).
Tensile strength is in the range 470 630
MPa.
Minimum elongation is 22% based on
fracture of a standard coupon specified in
EN 10025-1 (note that this does not mean
that differently shaped pieces would stretch
by 22% before fracture as the final rupture
is localised and much longer pieces would
thus experience an overall strain at failure
of much less than 22%).
Carbon equivalent value (CEV) is 0.43.
By specifying NL both the process route of
manufacture (normalized or normalized rolled
as opposed to thermomechanical rolled) is
chosen and the notch ductility is specified in
terms of the minimum impact energy in a
Charpy V-notch (CVN) test. For our example
the CVN impact energy value would have to
meet 27J at -50C for a test piece taken in the
longitudinal direction of rolling. For steel
products manufactured to the technical

FEATURE

delivery conditions specified in EN 10025-2,

the subgrade designations correlate with
minimum CVN values as follows:
JR requires 27J at 20C (ie R = room
temperature).
J0 requires 27J at 0C.
J2 requires 27J at -20C.
K2 requires 40J at -20C.
Thus S275JR corresponds with grade 43B in
former terms, and the CVN test may be taken
as representative of the steels toughness or
resistance to fracture at low temperature. The
choice of which subg rade is ne eded is
dependent on several factors which are
parameterised in BS 5950-1 (or BS 5400-3) and
Eurocode 3 Part 1.10 (EN 1993-1-10).
The BS approach considers whether
conditions leading to fatigue are present, type
of detail, stress level and whether strain
conditions are predominantly tensile. The
Eurocode approach is calibrated for both
fatigue and static loading in a single table
with allowance for the most likely adverse
condition in terms of welded details subject to
fatigue (referred to standard details in Part 1.9
of EC3) or the presence of residual defects
from punching or welding for static
conditions.
The advantage of the BS approach is that
more latitude is allowed for beneficial details,
but this in turn leads to a disadvantage that
the choice of appropriate subgrade may not be
possible until detailing is complete. The
Eurocode approach facilitates a decision in
principal on choice of subgrade when the
scheme design is complete.
Although the Eurocode rules may be adjusted
in the National Annex applicable to use in the
UK (based on nationally calibrated safety
considerations), the likelihood is that for
general application the EC3 rules will be less
restrictive on the use of thicker sections at low
temperatures when conservative assumptions
about detail types are made at design stage.
So, the appropriate subgrade has been chosen
appended to the design g rade for every
member. End of story?
Yes... BUT... there are options given in the steel
product standards that might need to be
specified.

Options
EN 10025-2 lists 28 options which few
specifiers use but which can be useful to
consider. We will look at four inter nal
defects, surface condition, through-thickness
properties and type of inspection document:
Internal defects
Before the advent of continuous casting steel
was rolled from ingots and so-called
laminations were more common whereby

impurities became inadvertently rolled into the

body of the product. The option still exists to
verify that a product is free from such defects
when tested to EN 10160 which is an
ultrasonic examination conducted over a grid
of points at a choice of spacing.
Surface condition
EN 10025 specifies that the surface condition
of the product shall meet a certain class
according to EN 10163, but there are options
to vary the base specification and the method
permitted for repair by the manufacturer.
Transverse testing
As the grain structure of rolled steel products
is elongated in the direction of rolling, the
product is stronger longitudinally than in the
transverse direction. Sometimes it is important
to check properties such as CVN values in the
transverse direction and options exist for
specifying this.
In addition, so-called Z-quality can be verified
using EN 10164 to check the ductility of steel
products in the through-thickness direction.
As the specimens must be stocky by nature
the ductility is not measured by elongation
strain at rupture used as a measure in the
longitudinal direction but by the percent
reduction of area before rupture. A minimum
value of 30% would be needed for Z30, and
this value would indicate very ductile steel.
Eurocode 3 Part 1.10 gives guidance to
specifiers to establish the relatively few
occasions when it might be necessary to
specify through-thickness properties.
Inspection documents
What is generally termed the test certificate
gives the purchaser all the specification
information about the actual product just
purchased. Yes... and No! First it needs to be
understood that inspection documents to EN
10204 (as they are properly termed) may be of
several types. The most common are a Type
2.2 Test Report and a Type 3.1B Inspection
Certificate.
A Type 2.2 document does not give any
information that is directly linked to the
product itself but it states that the production
process used by the manufacturer is capable
of producing product that conforms to the
specification and this is verified by periodic
checking of the process.
A Type 3.1B document is directly linked to the
lot or cast from which the actual product
came, and hence this is termed specific
inspection. However, some properties are
verified using samples taken from the finished
products in the lot, and some are based on the
ladle analysis sampled earlier in the
production process. Wisely, the steelmaker will
check the ladle analysis from the molten steel
complies so that, if necessary, it can be

adjusted before the products are cast and

rolled. In BS 5950 it is a mandatory
requirement that a Type 3.1B document is
provided, and this should be specified on the
purchasers order.
Rarely specifiers will require inspection that is
witnessed by the purchasers themselves and is
specific to their actual order rather than to the
lot or cast. The option exists, therefore, to
specify the Type 3.1C or Type 3.2 documents
that allow this.

Summary
The choice of grade (such as S275 which
designates yield strength) and choice of shape
of the section/profile are readily decidable at
scheme design stage. The choice of grade
automatically determines ductility (elongation
at normal temperatures) and weldability (as
CEV).
Between scheme design and detail design the
subgrade (such as J2) can be chosen. This is
specified in terms of a CVN value for notch
ductility and determines toughness and
resistance to fracture at low temperatures.
Occasionally the designer or steel purchaser
may wish to specify options offered by the
steel product standards such as those for
internal defects, surface condition, throughthickness properties and type of inspection
document.
For more information on how to specify
requirements for structural steelwork see the
updated Commentary on the 4th edition of the
National Structural Steelwork Specification.
The Commentary on the NSSS (The Grey
Book - published July 2003 - price 30) and
the NSSS itself (The Black Book - published
May 2002 - price 20) are both available from
BCSA.
Dr. Roger Pope is a technical consultant to the
British Constructional Steelwork Association