Description
CASTINGS 201: Steel Castings for Enhanced Aesthetics and Performance of Structures.
The use of steel castings in the design and construction of building and bridge structures is a fast-growing trend in the United States as casting manufacturing offers unparalleled geometric freedom in structural steel. As such, cast steel components are often used to address challenges in design and construction that would otherwise be very difficult to tackle using conventional steel fabrication. Given the freeform capabilities of casting manufacturing, castings are also very commonly used in architecturally exposed structural steel.
This presentation will provide a history of the modern renaissance in the use of steel castings in architectural construction, will provide examples of how castings have been successfully integrated into a wide range of projects, and will teach attendees how to leverage castings in their designs to enhance the structural and architectural performance of key structural connections.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- Identify and recognize opportunities for steel casting use at architecturally exposed structural steel connections to improve structural performance, enhance aesthetics, and/or to improve the constructability of the structural frame or system.
- Create a specification for custom (project specific) castings which successfully communicates architectural and structural design criteria to casting suppliers such that the casting products delivered to the project can safely and efficiently carry structural loads and achieve the desired aesthetics.
- Through the study of successful past projects, be able to describe how the use of steel castings can affect the architectural quality of important gathering spaces in buildings.
- Explain how various pre-engineered castings can improve the anti-seismic performance of buildings and how to specify them to enhance the structural resilience of buildings.
