The British Stainless Steel Association (BSSA) has published a new, comprehensive directory of suppliers of stainless steel sections to the UK market. Covering the full range of sizes and product types – hot rolled, hot extruded, cold formed, welded and hollow sections, the directory not only distinguishes between producers and distributors, but also shows the main stainless steel grades available from each supplier across the complete size range. Duncan Munro, Director of the BSSA, commented: “While carbon steel sections are readily available in standard sizes from both mills and
stockholders, it has traditionally been more difficult to procure stainless steel sections due to lack of standardisation in what has been a relatively small and fragmented market. The need in the Industry to address this has been recognized for some time. The BSSA has now taken a significant step towards meeting this requirement”. This new directory also cross-references the specific products and properties included in the design tables section of Structural Design of Stainless Steel, a comprehensive source of practical design guidance from the Steel Construction Institute (SCI), which has been recently revised to incorporate recent advances in the understanding of the structural behaviour of stainless steel. With BSSA sponsorship, SCI has developed interactive software to assist architects and designers wishing to calculate section properties and member capacities according to UK design codes.
