Report of Discussion Group on Metallic Materials

Abstract

A discussion on the applicability of service life predictions within the building and construction sector should take into account the following three typical conditions:

• A small part of a structure may fall, P.R., concrete cover, cladding, etc., but the overall safety and stability of the structure is preserved (partial failure).

• Major parts of a structure or the whole structure may collapse without warning. This may he due to gross errors, which most often originate from the construction process.

• Two basically different conditions regarding ownership prevail in the building and construction sector:

  • 1) The structure is owned and operated by one single responsible owner from “cradle to grave” - the is a “one-owner condition”. This may often be by the state or by large state-like organizations and the typical examples of such structures are nuclear power plants, off-shore structures and bridges, or

  • 2) The structure is owned and operated by multiple successive private owners with a very short horizon regarding economic involvement - the “multiple-owner condition”. This is the most usual case for all ordinary dwellings and factory-like structures operated under a private or capitalistic economy.