OREANDA-NEWS. November 07, 2014. ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products is taking part in the Deutscher Stahlbautag (German Steel Construction Day) in Hanover. The trade fair covers a wide range of areas where state-of-the-art steel construction is used. Visitors can find out about the latest developments and trends at ArcelorMittal on stand 45 in the Glass House of the Hanover Congress Centre.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining company, is showcasing a new integrated beam at the fair. The beam is made using a composite construction for large spans (a composite slim floor beam, or CoSFB in abbreviated form).  This innovative beam consists of an ordinary rolled section and a welded-on steel plate to support the floor elements.

Thanks to the use of innovative CoSFB concrete dowel connectors, the steel and concrete materials are combined for optimum effect with a minimum overall height. The design rules for CoSFB concrete dowels have been regulated by a National Technical Approval (no. Z-26.4-59) since August 2014 and are available to the general public.

Alain Witry, CEO of Commercial Long GmbH at ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, commented: “The advantage of the integrated beams is obvious - the high load-carrying capacity, achieved by joining the beam and cast-in-place concrete with ordinary reinforcing bars, enables the use of reduced quantities of materials. The demand for primary energy at manufacturing decreases as a result and is characteristic of the excellent environmental sustainability credentials associated with the CoSFB construction method.”

Steel beams and profiled metal sheets for floors

The efficient and resource-saving use of steel and concrete can be employed even more efficiently when combined with the Cofraplus 220® profiled metal sheet developed by ArcelorMittal.

ArcelorMittal Construction’s Cofraplus 220® floor system by is based on a 220mm-high profiled sheet with two webs, a ribbed top flange and a width of 750mm. Thanks to different available thicknesses of the profiled sheet, the system can be precisely adapted to specified loads with spans of up to 9m. The profiled sheet is manufactured from coil-coated sheet steel that is highly corrosion-resistant, with a coating choices ranging from a pure metallic coating to a large number of organic coatings with different properties.

Combined with the integrated beams, the system can achieve column-free floor spaces of around 10 by 14 metres. This emphasises the efficiency of the Cofraplus 220® floor system as a lightweight and cost-effective solution for the construction of large-span ceiling structures in single and multi-storey buildings such as office and administrative buildings. The CoSFB construction method is also suitable for shopping malls.