Discussion The Application and Economics of Weathering Steels

The following reports on the performance of candidates in the Part 3 (Membership) examination and in the Technician Test held in January 1972 have been prepared from the reports of the respective examiners and are offered as a guide, both to those who are preparing for future examinations and to those members of the Institution and others responsible for providing appropriate training and experience within the design office. It is hoped, too, that the notes will be of help to lecturers and others in colleges offering courses in preparing for one or other of the Institution's examinations.

I wish to compliment the authors for their very interesting and highly practical paper. Professor Patricio A. Laura

Column curvature curves are used to solve general inelastic beam-column problems in a manner similar to the use of column deflexion curves. Curvature curves are obtained analytically from differential equations while rotation and deflexion are computed by numerical integration of curvature. Three cases of column curvature curves cover all possible cases of elastic-plastic beam-columns. Complete elastic-plastic responses of beam-columns are investigated. Interaction relationships between thrust and end moment for ultimate strength of a beam-column are given. Numerical results are presented for beam-columns with a wide-flange section. W.F. Chen and T. Atsuta