This paper describes of an overview to the strength rules in the Australian AS4100 Steel Structures Code that was first issued in Limit States Format in 1990. It focuses on pertinent and characteristic issues, such as the means of analysis for second order effects in frames, and highlights how the tiered approach may lead to efficient design using advanced analysis techniques. It also considers design against buckling in some detail, and shows how advanced solutions may be readily incorporated into the design rules. Implicit in the formulations are the necessity for ductility of the steel, and the scope of the code is limited to steels that display this necessary ductility characteristic.

This paper describes the theoretical background and underlying principles behind the American Institute of Steel Construction Load and Resistance Factor Design (AISC LRFD) Specification for the analysis and stability design of steel frames. Various analysis procedures that can take into consideration the effects of member instability, frame instability, member-frame interaction, geometric imperfections, and inelasticity are reviewed. Design approaches by which these factors can be incorporated in the design of steel moment frames are addressed. Current specification guidelines for member and frame design in the U.S. are summarized. Examples are given to illustrate the validity of the design equations. Some future directions for the analysis and stability design of steel frames are discussed.

Procedures given in Eurocode 3 Part 1.1 (EN 1993-1-1) for design of the main types of structural member under given systems of loading are presented and described. Whereas some of these e.g. the procedure for axially loaded columns, are little changed from the early concept that appeared more than 25 years ago in the European Recommendations and have subsequently been adopted in many other steel codes of the world, others such as the interaction formulae for beam-columns are new, with aspects of the provisions still under development. For each type of member the basis of the procedure is described and some comparative comments made.

The new version of Code for Design of Steel Structures (GB50017-2003) and other design standards in China were released over the last two years. Comparing with the previous version (GBJ17-88), many clauses covering the connection design have been revised. A number of additional provisions are supplemented to specify the design requirements for beam-column moment connections, as well as gusset plates for truss joints. In this paper, a summary on the design rules on connections specified in the current Chinese code is presented, and relevant commentary and background information is provided whenever appropriate. The design criteria governing weld and bolt resistance is examined and reviewed. Moreover, several issues such as detailing requirements for stiffeners and end-plate connections are discussed.

Four design codes/regulations for steel structures in Japan are briefly reviewed. Some of them employ the limit state design concept while the others are still based on the allowable stress design concept. The process for revision is now in action. The directions in the development of structural design codes are also reported herein. It is noted that a current trend in this development is to employ the performance-based design concept that has been successfully implemented in some seismic design codes.

Current codes of practice do not exist in isolation, and rules that have been developed assume certain material properties and minimum workmanship in fabrication and erection. These are either in separate documents or different parts of the code. This paper explains the main requirements for materials and workmanship and how they can be related to design and construction in general. The use of very high strength steels is also considered and the measures that may be needed to allow their use with modern codes are also presented.

The effective length method for flexural (column) buckling has been used for many decades but its use is somewhat limited in various contemporary design codes to moderately slender structures with elastic critical load factor (${\lambda}_{cr}$) less than 3 to 5. In pace with the use of higher grade steel in recent years, the influence of buckling in axial buckling resistance of a column becomes more important and the over-simplified assumption of effective length factor can lead to an unsafe, an uneconomical or a both unsafe and uneconomical solution when some members are over-designed while key elements are under-designed. Effective length should not normally be taken as the distance between nodes multiplied by an arbitrary factor like 0.85, 1.0, 2.0 etc. Further, the classification of non-sway and sway-sensitive frames makes the conventional design procedure tedious to use and, more importantly, limited to simple regular frames. This paper describes the practical use of second-order analysis with section capacity check allowing for $P-{\delta}$ and $P-{\Delta}$ effects together with member and system imperfections. Most commercial software considers only the $P-{\Delta}$ effect, but not member and frame imperfections nor $P-{\delta}$ effect, and engineers must be very careful in their uses. A verification problem is also given for validation of software for this type of powerful second-order analysis and design. It is a trend for popular and advanced national design codes in using the second-order analysis as a norm for analysis and design of steel structures while linear analysis may only be used in very simple structures.

This paper describes recent developments in composite construction and their effect on codified design procedures in the UK. Areas of particular interest include: rules on shear connection, design of beams with web openings, serviceability limits, such as floor vibrations, and fire safe design. The design of cellular beams with regular circular openings now includes generalized rules for web-post buckling, and for the development of in-plane moment in the web-post for asymmetric sections. Closed solutions for the maximum shear force due to limits on web-post bending or buckling are presented. The fire resistance of cellular beams is also dependent on the temperature of the web-post, and for closely spaced openings. It is necessary to increase the thickness of fire protection to the web. For serviceability design of beams, deflection limits and natural frequency and response factor for vibration are presented. It may be necessary to use stricter limits for certain applications.

This paper presents the findings of a design development project for perforated beams fully integrated with building services. A unified design approach for both steel and composite beams with large rectangular web openings is proposed which is based on plastic design methods and formulated in accordance with analytical structural design principles. Moreover, finite element models are established after careful calibration against test data, and comparison on the predicted ultimate loads of two composite beams with rectangular web openings from the finite element models and the proposed design method is also presented. It is demonstrated that the proposed design method is able to predict the ultimate loads of composite beams with rectangular web openings against 'Vierendeel' mechanism satisfactorily.

Local buckling is a major consideration in the design of thin-walled cold-formed steel sections. The main effect of local buckling in plate elements under longitudinal compressive stresses is to cause a redistribution of the stresses in which the greatest portion of the load is carried near the supporting edges of the plate junctions. The redistribution produces increased stresses near the plate junctions and high bending stresses as a result of plate flexure, leading to ultimate loads below the squash load of the section. In singly symmetric cross-sections, the redistribution of longitudinal stress caused by local buckling also produces a shift of the line of action of internal force (shift of effective centroid). The fundamentally different effects of local buckling on the behaviour of pin-ended and fixed-ended singly symmetric columns lead to inconsistencies in traditional design approaches. The paper describes local buckling and shift of effective centroid of thin-walled cold-formed steel channel columns. Tests of channel columns have been described. The experimental local buckling loads were compared with the theoretical local buckling loads obtained using an elastic finite strip buckling analysis. The shift of the effective centroid was also compared with the shift predicted using the Australian/New Zealand and American specifications for cold-formed steel structures.

This paper outlines the current steel design climate and describes some recent and unusual designs using structural steel or composite steel and concrete which have been carried out in Hong Kong and the East Asia region. Composite structural systems for very tall buildings are outlined. A case study of concept designs for one of these is presented. Two further case studies are presented: a refurbishment project where the use of steel and innovative strengthening techniques allowed an additional five stories to be built on an existing reinforced concrete frame and a monumental sculpture.