AISI Standards Council Projects to Advance Cold-Formed Steel Design Practice
04/03/2009 - AISI’s Standards Council announces three new projects that are intended to help improve or add to the tools available for cold-formed steel design.
The American Iron and Steel Institute’s Standards Council announced three new projects for 2009 that are intended to help improve or add to the tools available for cold-formed steel design. AISI’s Standards Council will facilitate the effort under its Committee on Specifications and Committee on Framing Standards, using procedures approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The projects include development of supplements to AISI S110-07 (the Standard for Seismic Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Systems—Special Bolted Moment Frames) and AISI S213-7 (the North American Standard for Cold-Formed Steel Framing--Lateral Design). The committees will also initiate a new project to develop a Beam Test Method for Cold-Formed Steel Diaphragms.
The Supplement to AISI S110-07 will address comments raised during the code development process by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) and the ASCE 7 Seismic Subcommittee.
The Supplement to AISI S213-7 will adjust provisions for shear walls sheathed with 27-mil sheet steel based on research conducted at the University of North Texas. It will also adjust values for diagonal strap-braced (concentric) walls to match the values approved by the Canadian National Committee on Earthquake Engineering for inclusion in the National Building Code of Canada seismic provisions.
“With both of these projects, we are working toward the development of 2010 edition AISI Supplements with target completion dates to match the 2012 International Code Council Code Development Process,” said Jay Larson, Managing Director of Construction Technical for AISI. “These Supplements are being developed to incorporate the latest research and best practices for cold-formed steel design.”
Larson said that development of the Beam Test Method for Cold-Formed Steel Diaphragms will be assigned to AISI’s Committee on Specifications Subcommittee on Test Methods, with work beginning on a draft standard prior to its August 2009 meeting. The new test method would provide an alternative to the existing AISI Cantilever Test Method for Cold-Formed Steel Diaphragms that is suitable for cold-formed steel light-frame construction. It is envisioned that using a beam test method that more realistically simulates the design and in-place loading conditions will result in more economical design solutions.
The AISI Standards Council was established in 2008 to consolidate the administration of AISI’s Committee on Specifications and AISI’s Committee on Framing Standards. The Council’s primary responsibilities are to maintain the ANSI accreditation and ensure compliance with operating procedures; maintain an efficient and effective committee leadership structure; and initiate and manage standards development projects. AISI is recognized by ANSI as an accredited consensus standards developer.
AISI’s codes and standards work is conducted under the Steel Market Development Institute’s (SMDI’s) Construction Market Council, which is supported through an investment by the following companies:
- ArcelorMittal USA
- ArcelorMittal Dofasco
- Nucor Corp.
- Severstal North America Inc.
- SSAB North American Division
- Steelscape, Inc.
- United States Steel Corp.
- USS-POSCO Industries
AISI’s Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) is actively engaged in directing the industry’s investment to advance the use of steel through market-driven strategies that promote cost-effective solutions in the marketplace. The SMDI focuses primarily on the automotive, construction and container markets, as well as on new growth opportunities in non-traditional steel markets.
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. The Institute comprises 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.
