The seminar consists of two investigations related to steel scaffolding systems, viz. the on-site measurement of shore loads in uprights during concrete pour and the reliability of scaffolding systems when designed by advanced analysis.

 

The first part of the seminar presents the results of a shore load investigation undertaken in three construction sites in Sydney. In total, ten pour areas were investigated. The actual and theoretical axial loads occurring among shores in scaffold-type formwork supporting systems were determined and compared. Both dead and live construction loads were measured prior to, during and post concrete pour. It is shown that the CoV of dead loads is substantially higher than that applicable to ordinary steel and concrete buildings because of the variable nature of this load during pour. The derived statistics for dead and live loads are presented and compared with other load data available for steel scaffolding systems.

 

The second part of the seminar gives details of a recent study of steel scaffolding systems designed by geometric and material (advanced) structural analysis. In this approach, the strength of the system is determined by the analysis without recourse to a structural standard for determining member capacities. In designing by advanced analysis, the resistance factor of the system must be known, which is obtained in the study by Monte-Carlo analysis and first-order reliability analysis combined with statistical data for loads and the parameters most significantly affecting the strength of the scaffold. The seminar outlines the research framework for determining systems resistance factors and designing by advanced analysis, and presents resistance factors for various target reliabilities.

 

Professor Kim Rasmussen obtained his Masters of Science in Engineering degree from the Technical University of Denmark in 1982 and his PhD from the University of Sydney in 1988. He was appointed Lecturer in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney in 1989 and is now full Professor and Head in the same School. He is also head of the Structures Group and Chairman of the Centre for Advanced Structural Engineering which operates within the School and supports research and consulting activities in the area of structural engineering. He is an active consultant to industry, nationally and internationally.

 

Kim Rasmussen’s main research areas are theoretical and experimental structural mechanics with particular expertise in steel structural members and systems, cold-formed steel structures, stainless steel structures, aluminium structures, and structural stability and analysis. He teaches advanced structural steel design to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is member or chairman of numerous Standards Australia committees and member of the editorial boards of most of the leading journals in his field.