Design of steel portal frames made of web tapered members with and without openings at normal temperature and fire conditions

The objective of this project is to bring easy application of the web tapered steel members and structures, with and without openings, at normal and fire conditions by establishing the engineering design rules, guidelines and recommendations. TaperFrame is driven by the urgent necessity to comply with European sustainability standards and the growing recognition of the environmental impact on building structures. It aims to achieve a more efficient design approach by enhancing performance while minimising material usage. Cellular beams and web tapered members are regarded as an intelligent and efficient technological solution for attaining these objectives in the field of steel design. Present practice inadequately consider the complex interaction between local-global failure modes and the influence of material and geometric imperfections on the overall resistance of slender section members, resulting in overly conservative design rules. Additionally, these rules do not cover cellular members subjected to axial forces, which are beyond their scope of applicability. In addition, specific fire design rules for web tapered members are lacking, penalizing the competitiveness of steel solutions. Steel portal frames with these members exhibit the additional complexity arising from the interaction of failure modes between the members, lack well-defined guidelines for the global analysis and application of stability verification rules, and lack methodologies for accurately determining deflections for serviceability limit state verifications if cellular members are considered. Given that these structures are specifically engineered for optimisation, it is imperative that appropriate design principles are established to fully leverage their benefits. Hence, this project will address these serious limitations by conducting a thorough numerical and experimental research ultimately contributing for scientific advancements that promote steel usage.