Building Construction

strengths). These are: count for nearly 70%. Recently, 630 (780) engineer-development activities of the Ja-
● Steel grades for plates and circular tubes: N/mm2-grade QQ’T steel products that take pan Steel-rib Fabricating Association and
385 (550), 400 (490) (fHAZ≤0.58 for plate), into account cyclic behavior in the plastic the Japan Steel Constructors Association, in
440 (590) (conventional SA440 steel for range have been adopted for the steel plate addition to the extensive efforts of the re-
plate), 500 (590), 630 (780) and 700 (780) seismic-resistant walls of large-span high- spective steel-frame fabricating companies.
(only H-SA700 plate)-N/mm2 and rise building structures and for heavy-wall, Structural designers have enhanced their
● Steel grades for square tubes: 385 (550), large-section concrete-filled steel tube col- collaboration with steel-frame fabricating
400 (490) (fHAZ≤0.58) and 440 (590)-N/ umns whose elastic limits are specified in companies through periodic exchanges of
mm2. the design conditions. technological information and by imple-
While some of these steel grades require For the Tokyo Sky Tree®, a steel radio- menting structural design that features ease
application approval in terms of structural broadcasting tower now under construction of fabrication performance that, in turn, re-
design methods, the available range of yield in Tokyo that will be introduced later, di- flects technical proposals from the steel-
points now extends from 235 N/mm2 to 700 verse kinds of heavy-wall, large-section cir- frame fabricating companies. Further devel-
N/mm2. In addition, for steel plates with cular steel pipes in addition to 630 (780) N/ opments in design and fabrication
yield points from 325 N/mm2 to 440 N/mm2, mm2-grade steel products have been adopt- technologies for steel-frame buildings are
steel for large heat-input welding has been ed as the appropriate materials and in the expected to spring forth from these collab-
developed. right sections. orative efforts.
Of these steel products, plates with lower It is considered that structural design Further, at steel-frame fabrication com-
yield point limits of 325 N/mm2 or more and freedom has been remarkably enhanced by panies, diverse operations are being directed
thicknesses of 40 mm or more are produced appropriately selecting the steel products toward labor and energy savings, including
by means of the water cooling-type thermo- mentioned above according to the perfor- contributions to the creation of a low-carbon
mechanical control process (TMCP) or by mances required of the structural members. society. Specifically, in welding operations,
the QQ’T process that involves initial Steel-frame structures are the most suitable efforts are being made to reduce welding
quenching followed by subsequent dual- type of building for creating free space, and volume and weld corrections by reviewing
phase quenching and tempering. However, their adoption is expected to bring forth de- current groove standards. Activities are also
for steel products having a lower tensile mand for new structural space. being promoted that reinforce energy-sav-
strength limit of 780 N/mm2, it is expected ing fabrication operations, including pro-
that steel with high weldability will be de- Collaboration between Structural cess controls to allow optimal fabrication
veloped along with welding materials capa- Designers and Steel-frame Fabri- and to lessen member movement. In this re-
ble of securing toughness in the weld metal cating Companies gard, close cooperation between designers
while not lowering that of the base metal. Numerous types of steel-frame fabricating and fabricating companies will be required,
Further, it is considered necessary to orga- companies are in operation. Certain compa- meaning that structural designers and con-
nize statistical data on the mechanical prop- nies are able to manufacture highly precise struction companies will need to agree early
erties of steel products produced using these structures in which structural members us- in the process on design changes, changes in
diversified grades and their welds as design ing heavy-wall, large-section high-strength construction methods, finishing degree, the
data. steel products are connected in complex required equipment, and temporary con-
Fig. 3 shows the ratio of maximum three-dimensional arrays. Other companies struction metal fitting-related connection
strengths (lower limits for tensile strength) engage mainly in the manufacture of rigid details so that the steel-frame fabrication
possessed by steel products adopted for the steel frames using square tube columns and process can be free of disturbance.
columns of steel-frame high-rise buildings1). H beams. All of these companies have accu- A good example of collaboration be-
When these products are classified by pro- mulated knowhow regarding their respec- tween structural designers and steel-frame
duction process, the 325 (490) N/mm2 grade tive fabricating technologies and have fabricating engineers is the design of the
produced by hot rolling accounts for nearly steadily enhanced their ability to guarantee steel-frame details and the fabrication of the
30%, and the 325 (490), 355 (520) and 385 steel-frame quality. It is regarded that this is steel frames adopted for construction of the
(550) N/mm2-grades by TMCP and the 440 largely attributable to the steady technologi- Tokyo Sky Tree®. It is regarded that the con-
(590) N/mm2-grade by QQ’T together ac- cal developments, diffusion activities, and struction of this, the world’s tallest steel
tower, has been possible only through col-
Fig. 3 Maximum Strength of Steel Products Used for Columns
laborative operations based on the advanced
100%
590 N/mm2 grade design technologies of the structural design-
90%
ers and the advanced steel-frame fabrication
80% 550 N/mm2 grade
technologies and quality guarantee capabili-
70%
ties of the steel-frame fabricating compa-
60%
nies.
50%
40%
Reference
30% 520 N/mm2 grade
1) New Building Technology Report―Perfor-
20%
mance Assessment and Rating/Examination
10% 490 N/mm2 grade Certification (June 2000, March 2009):
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005.2006 Building Center of Japan, June 2010

Recent Steel-frame Technologies