New developments in international steel and concrete composite design standards

Major developments are underway in composite standards worldwide. In Australasia, the first joint Australian/New Zealand steel and composite bridge design standard AS/NZS 5100.6 was published in March 2017, and it is expected that the first Australasian design standard on multi-storey composite construction AS/NZS 2327 will soon follow. In North America, the 2016 edition of the Specification for Structural Steel Buildings AISC 360-16 was published. Whilst in Europe, work on the second generation of Eurocode 4 is underway, which is expected to be published in 2020. Drawing on personal experience, the present author will provide a general overview of the work leading to the development of AS/NZS 5100.6 together with the ongoing work on Eurocode 4. As Chair of the Committee responsible for AS/NZS 5100.6, the author will present the work that has led to structural steel products manufactured to overseas standards to be permitted in design; moreover, the challenges faced in the development of composite design provisions from the introduction of concrete compressive strengths up to 100 MPa together with quenched and tempered steels with a yield strength up to 690 MPa will be presented. In addition, the ongoing work on developing a new standard push test for Eurocode 4 will be presented. From these developments, future research needs will be identified for the next generation of Australasian and European design standards