On the dimensioning of steel construction considering revision of German standards

Different procedures for dimensioning of structural steelwork are investigated in this paper. In the non-nuclear area, there has been made a change in the design concept for structural steelwork of surface constructions in Germany and the deterministic design concept of German DIN 18800 (03/81) [1] has been replaced by the semi-probabilistic design concept of DIN 18800 (11/90) [2]. Design codes established in nuclear safety standards for steelwork in German nuclear facilities are considered in the paper. Recent revisions of German nuclear safety standards and specifications are discussed with respect to regulations concerning design codes. The change in design concept for structural steelwork (non-nuclear) has not been adopted in recent revisions of nuclear safety standards and specifications for steelwork of components with importance to safety. The deterministic concept of DIN 18800 (03/81) [1] is compared with the semi-probabilistic concept of DIN 18800 (11/90) [2]. Differences between the standards [1] and [2] are investigated using an example of a steel construction. Results for dimensioning according to DIN 18800 (03/81) [1] are compared to those for dimensioning according to DIN 18800 (11/90) [2] putting the main emphasis on stress analysis and building structure interaction loads. (authors)