STEEL CASTINGS IN ARCHITECTURE

AND ENGINEERING

Hans Schober is born 1943 in Germany and sudied civil ABSTRACT

engineering at the University of Stuttgart. After the study he
Steel castings are being applied in civil engineering not
was a structural engineer with the contractor Ph. Holzmann
only for delicate designed and shaped small elements but
and afterwards lecturer at the University of Stuttgart.
also for highly stressed structural elements. Today’s low
From 1982 to 1992 he was a senior engineer and since
carbon cast steel meets all quality requirements imaginable
1992 he is partner with Schlaich Bergermann und Partner.
such as strength, toughness, weldability and fatigue resist-
His wide spread practise includes design and detailing of
ance.
various pedestrian bridges, railway bridges, multi-storey
This paper describes extensive personal experiences with
buildings and glass structures at home and abroad.
cast steel elements in the design of cable net structures,
glass structures, buildings, pedestrian bridges, highway
bridges and railway bridges. Finally test results with cast
steel and welded casts steel on small specimen and full size
specimen under static and dynamic loads are presented.

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 1. INTRODUCTION

The second half of the 18th century saw the advent of widespread use of cast iron as a building material.
However, its brittle quality made it safe only for structural elements under compression.
The world's first cast iron bridge built in Coalbrookdale, England (1777 – 1779) was reminiscent of stone arch
bridges, but required a lot less material due to the high compression strength (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: The first cast iron bridge

Coalbrookdale, England (1777 – 79)

In New York City's Soho, there are still quite a number of 19th century buildings with cast iron supports and the
buildings' cast iron facades carrying the loads (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Cast iron facade

Haughwout House, New York

The development of steel production technologies, the welding technique and the use of rolled steel sections
diminished the importance of cast structural elements.
Lately however, there is evidence of a reversal back to castings in structural engineering.

The new, low-alloy and low-carbon materials used in casting today are a far cry from the traditional perception
of cast steel as a brittle, porous material to be used only under compression and impossible to weld. In the
following it will be demonstrated that this new material meets all quality requirements imaginable such as
strength, viscosity, weldability, and corrosion resistance.

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Cast steel permits beautiful, free flowing forms as well as the manufacture of even the most complicated nodes
with numerous tubes entering from any direction. It is possible to perfectly adapt the shape of the node and the
wall thicknesses to the flow of forces from the entering tubes. Since the material characteristics of cast steel are
not affected by the direction of stress, they are especially well suited for nodes stressed three-dimensionally.
With cast steel it is possible to create flowing forms without any sharp edges or leaps in the cross-section, thus
avoiding stress concentrations and notch effects. This favourably affects the fatigue behaviour.
In cast steel nodes the welded seams between node and tube may be placed away from the node core to the less
stressed tubes and arranged there perpendicular to the axis resulting in a simple, easily accessible welded seam.
This also avoids secondary stresses in the node due to welding.
Water rolls off rounded cast steel nodes and they are well ventilated, thus reducing corrosion as well as greatly
improving accessibility for inspection and maintenance.
Aside from allowing free forms, steel castings possess above all technical advantages with regard to the static
and dynamic strength, the accessibility of the welded seams, the simplicity of dimensioning, the maintenance,
the service life and, in addition, their appearance inspires trust. These facts become even more obvious as the
number of tubes entering one node from different directions increases (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Tubular cast steel nodes

Because of these advantages cast steel nodes have been favoured by the author’s consultancy for quite some
time.

2. PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH CAST STEEL NODES

2.1 Cable-Net Structures

The cable-net roof for the 1972 Olympics in Munich caused a virtual renaissance for cast steel. A multitude of
nodes had to be built as compact and as durable as possible for the coupling of locked coil cables, bundles of
strands and tubular supports of various geometries. Even now, over 30 years later, these cast steel elements are in
mint condition without any flaws (Fig. 4).

b)

a) c)

Fig. 4: Roof for the 1972 Olympics in Munich, cast steel nodes for cable coupling
a) Roof b) Foam model c) Final installation of cable coupling

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The ice skating rink in Munich, completed in 1985, profited from this previous experience (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Ice skating rink in Munich, 1985. Cable net roof

a) roof from inside b) steel casting for cable saddle

2.2 Glass Structures

Glass structures usually require delicate, well designed elements and the design generally calls for cast stainless
steel with different finishes.
The pillow-type roof structure (courtyard roof) of the Deutsche Bank in Berlin vaults while the diagonal cable
net swerves downwards. The vertical posts with the stainless steel balls at both ends rest in cast ladles,
permitting random spatial angles to the grid shell and the cable net with a single element (Fig. 6). The milled ball
has a polished finish and the cast ladle is blast with glass spheres.

Fig. 6: Courtyard roof of Deutsche Bank, Berlin with cast stainless steel cable clamps

The roof of the Zeughaus in Berlin (Architect I. M. Pei) is a filigree shell. Diagonal cables transform the glazed
quadrangles into triangles required for shells. Due to the complicated shape, cast steel GS 20 Mn 5 V is used for
the mullion node (Fig. 7).

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 Fig. 7: Courtyard roof of Zeughaus, Berlin with cast steel nodes

The platform roof of the Lehrter Bahnhof in Berlin is supported by cables following the bending moments. Cast
steel GS 18 NiMoCr3 6 V was used for all cable saddles, clamps and movable supports (Fig. 8).

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Fig. 8: Platform roof of the Lehrter Bahnhof, Berlin with cast steel cable saddles, cable clamps and supports

In 1992 a very light cable net wall was developed for the Hotel Kempinski in Munich. The facade consists
merely of a single-layer, plane, prestressed cable net with the glass panes intermittently attached to its nodes
(Fig. 9).

Fig. 9: Cable net facade for the Hotel Kempinski in Munich with stainless cast steel corner patch plates and
cable clamps

The cast stainless steel mounting brackets are manufactured using ceramic moulds. They hold the glass panes at
the four corners, requiring no drilling of the glass, and are clamped to the cables.
Since then this utterly minimized type of facade has been used several times (Fig. 10), including the AOL Time
Warner Building in NYC at the Columbus Circle (Fig. 11), though this application included different mounting
brackets.

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Fig. 10 Cable net wall at Badenweiler with stainless cast steel glass clamps for the wall

Fig. 11: Cable net wall for the AOL Time Warner Building in New York with stainless cast steel corner patch
plates and cable clamps

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For the Foreign Office in Berlin the vertical cable runs directly behind the glass pane and the horizontal cable is
recessed about 40 cm. The necessary spacers as well as the mounting brackets for the glass are diligently
designed stainless steel castings (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12: Cable net facade for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin
with cast stainless steel corner path plate

2.3 Buildings

In many cases technical aspects rather than aesthetic ones prompt us to use steel casting.
Cast steel nodes are particularly well suited for tubular structures with several tubes meeting in one point.

In the design competition for the assembly-shop roof of the VW-Skoda plant in the Czech Republic forked
supports with cast steel nodes prevailed due to their light appearance (Fig. 13).

Fig. 13: Forked supports for the VW-Skoda plant in the Czech Republic

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Terminal 1 at the Stuttgart Airport also receives its unique structural appearance through the forked-supports
with their diligently designed cast steel nodes (Fig. 14). The same design will be used for the extension of the
airport currently under construction.

Fig. 14: Forked supports for the Terminal roof at the Stuttgart Airport

The roof of the fair hall 13 in Hanover is a traditional spatial truss spanning a rectangle of 225 x 120 m. Here at
least 5, but sometimes as many as 9 bars of different diameters are combined in the nodes. Cast steel nodes are
an excellent solution for this problem. In order to keep the expenses for the model to a minimum, a modular
construction system was used to develop basic structures. Their various attachments for diagonals and strut joints
permit any possible joining scenario (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15: Castings at the space truss of fair hall 13 in Hannover, 1998

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The funnel-shaped office-tower of the Porsche customer-service center in Leipzig is supported by V-shaped
tubular steel supports with their cast steel top and base points perfectly adjusted to the flow of forces (Fig. 16).

Fig. 16: Tubular nodes for the Porsche Customer Service Center in Leipzig

2.4 Pedestrian Bridges

Cast steel nodes also find various applications in pedestrian bridges. They are used above all for the cable
saddles on the masts and the cable clamps of the main cable. Examples to be mentioned here for this application
are the Max Eyth See bridge in Stuttgart (Fig. 17) and the pedestrian bridge in Bayreuth (Fig. 18).

Fig. 17: Max Eyth See bridge near Stuttgart with cast steel cable anchoring

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Fig. 18: Pedestrian bridge in Bayreuth with cast steel cable clamps

The higher strength, cold-viscous cast steel GS 18 NiMoCr3 6 V is mostly used for cable clamps and anchorings
having a yield strength of 600 – 700 N/mm² and a tensile strength of approximately 800 N/mm².

Various types of cast steel nodes are also used in pedestrian bridges with reinforced concrete decks resting on
tubular steel supports. Due to the punching of the reinforced concrete slabs, as many points of support as
possible are advantageous. Therefore, it is preferable to fork the tubular steel supports towards the slab. Cast
steel nodes are perfect for the branching points of the tubular steel supports as well as for connecting the
supports to the foundations and to the deck. This can be seen at the bridge in Sindelfingen and the Pragsattel and
Heilbronner Straße bridge in Stuttgart. (Figs. 19 and 20).

Fig. 19: Forked supports for pedestrian bridges

Bridge in Sindelfingen, 1989, top
Pragsattel bridge in Stuttgart, 1992, bottom

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Fig. 20: Arch bridge Heilbronner Straße in Stuttgart, 1992

In the case of these two bridges the castings were equipped with a groove at the weld between the tube and the
casting. This groove, 30 mm wide and 5 mm deep, is designed to distinguish the rough casting from the smooth
tube and to define a clear boundary for burnishing the seam.
The Ripshorst bridge, curved in plan, is supported by a single steel arch. A hanging model was used to determine
its geometry. Due to the spatial curved arch numerous V-shaped vertical struts of different geometries have to be
connected with the arch using cast steel nodes (Fig. 21).
With castings the welded seams can be placed away from the node care to a less stressed position.

Fig. 21: Pedestrian arch bridge in Ripshorst, 1998, curved in plan

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The module-type Expo-bridges in Hannover, carried by closely situated supports, rest on heavily rounded and
defined cast steel elements (Fig. 22).

Fig. 22: Expo-bridge Hannover, 1999

There should be no reluctance to use rounded cast steel elements with stiffeners and varying wall thicknesses
because this, in addition to the structural and aesthetic benefits, also provides advantages for the casting process.

2.5 Highway Bridges

The Nesenbach highway bridge in Stuttgart rests on a tubular steel truss with a concrete slab and is supported by
Y-supports. All nodes of the Y-supports and of the truss including the connections to the concrete slab are cast
steel (Fig. 23).

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Fig. 23: Nesenbachtal bridge in Stuttgart, 1999

The Schattenring bridge in Stuttgart has its steel arch enter the concrete superstructure to optimize the arch rise.
All tubular steel nodes as well as the feet and heads are carefully designed cast steel elements (Fig. 24).

Fig. 24: Highway bridge near Stuttgart, 2002, with cast steel nodes

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2.6 Railway Bridges

In the heart of Berlin, near the government buildings, a new main station, the Lehrter Bahnhof, is under
construction.
At an elevation of approximately 10 m a total of 6 tracks have to cross a distance of almost 1.000 m, passing
through the station and crossing the Humboldthafen basin attached to the river Spree (Fig. 25).

Fig. 25: Railway bridges at the Lehrter Bahnhof in Berlin

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At the center of the station building all railway bridges are supported by forked-supports with an overall height
of approximately 23 m. They consist of 4 steel tubes with a diameter of 508 mm each, dissolving into 4 three-
dimensional forks at the top (Fig. 26).

Fig. 26: Forked supports in the station building

At the Humboldthafen the concrete superstructure is supported by a steel arch spanning 60 m. The arch consists
of thick-walled, seamless steel tubes with a wall-thickness of 100 mm (Fig. 27).

Fig. 27: Railway bridge across the Humboldthafen

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With the advantages of cast steel tubular nodes – especially under dynamic load – in mind, a central idea in the
design process of the bridges was to use cold-viscose cast steel with favourable weldability for all nodes. The
following node-types are used (Fig. 28):

a) For the forked-supports in the station building (Fig. 28a):

• Fork head at the transition to the concrete superstructure, 2.5 tons, with a diameter of 120 cm and wall-
thicknesses of max t = 200 mm and min t = 90 mm.

• Support fork, 11.5 tons and wall-thicknesses of max t = 300 mm and min t = 90 mm.

• Support base, 11.7 tons with the dimensions of ∅ = 225 cm, h = 105 cm, max t = 300 mm,
min t = 90 mm.

b) For the bridge across the Humboldthafen (Fig. 28b):

• Arch head with stiffeners (2.8 tons)

• Top of the impost abutment (13.5 tons)

• Arch node (3.2 tons) with a diameter of 660 mm and wall thicknesses of t = 100 mm

• Bottom of the impost abutment (9.8 tons)

• Nodes of the diagonals at the impost with a diameter of 267 mm and wall-thicknesses of max t = 45 –
60 mm.

Fig. 28 a): Cast steel elements for the railway bridges

Cast steel elements of the forked supports in the station
Top: Head of the forked support
Center: Fork
Bottom: Base of the forked support

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Fig. 28 b): Cast steel elements of the Humboldthafen bridge
Top: Top of the arch
Center: Arch node
Center: Top of the impost abutment
Bottom: Bottom of the impost abutment
Bottom: Node for the diagonals

The cast steel used was GS 20 Mn 5 V according to german standard DIN 17182 (cast steel with improved
weldability and toughness for general use), material No. 1.1120. The characteristics of this type of cast steel are
comparable to those of steel St. 52-3 (S 355 J2 G3) with respect to strength, weldability and viscosity (Fig. 34).

After intensive preliminary inspection, ensuing heat treatment and a final inspection in the work shop, the
welded ends of the castings were machined. Proper machining and grove weld backing is very important under
dynamic load because the quality of the weld root is a major factor in determining the fatigue category, and
minimizes tolerances, facilitates the assessment (for ultrasonic testing) and provides controlled conditions.

For the Humboldthafen bridge, the weld ends were machined to compensate for the tolerances of the tube and
the casting (Fig. 29).

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Fig. 29: Butt joint at tubes and machined weld ends

The client, the Deutsche Bahn AG, made high demands as to the quality of the dynamically stressed castings. In
addition to the limitation of carbon content, there was a strict limitation of the internal and external defects.
Therefore, for all weld ends the requirment was defect acceptance level 1 and for any other area defect
acceptance level 2 according to DIN 1690 applied, though reducing the largest possible single defect and the
largest possible total defect area to half of the stipulation in the code.

While there was no problem to meet defect acceptance level 1 for the weld ends, the foundry faced major
problems meeting defect acceptance level 2 which could only be mastered with great efforts (if at all).
In the future it would be reasonable to adjust the quality requirements for the stresses in the casting, to define
areas with different quality requirements, and to adapt the casting process.

For castings purely under static load defect acceptance level 3 is sufficient, except for the weld ends.

All castings were submitted to a 100 % surface crack inspection and to an ultrasonic inspection. In addition the
quality inspector stipulated an x-ray test for 10 % of the welded ends.

After being presented with all test records of the contractor the quality inspector submitted the castings to
another ultrasonic and surface crack inspection and also examined the x-ray-films of the contractor.
Defects could only be repaired with so-called shop-welds after the consent of the client. For inadmissible defects
requests for allowances had to be submitted which, after a lengthy procedure, were either granted or dismissed.
In case of a dismissal new castings had to be manufactured.

3. TESTS WITH CAST STEEL

Since this was the first application of cast steel nodes in modern railway bridge construction the static and
dynamic behaviour of the cast steel welded to rolled steel had to be tested extensively. The following tests were
conducted at the University of Karlsruhe.

• Small specimen tests:

Steel welded to cast steel plates with wall thicknesses of 25 and 40 mm.

• Fatigue tests with cast steel tubes welded with a butt joint to rolled tubes with an outside diameter of 267
mm and wall thickness of 20 mm.

• Tests with steel columns (full size testing):

Tubes with an outside diameter of 508 mm and 60 mm wall thickness, welded to cast steel nodes.

• Fatigue tests with contact- and butt joints (steel to cast steel) of the arch tubes:
Thick-walled tubes with an outside diameters of 660 mm and 100 mm wall thickness.

• Diagnosis by sawing off the castings:

Column foot with an outside diameter of 508 mm, wall thickness 60 mm (Fig. 30).
Arch node with an outside diameter of 660 mm, wall thickness 110 mm (Fig. 31).

• Investigation of the mechanical properties of the castings in spatial directions (Fig. 32).

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Fig. 30: Column foot with indicated defects Right: Sawing of the node

Fig. 31: Arch node with indicated defects Right: Sawing of the node defect

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Fig. 3: Machined samples from cutted castings

Since the tests are published in [2] only the most relevant results will be given below.

Fig. 34 shows that the properties of GS 20 Mn 5 V derived from the static test are definitely comparable to that
of ST 52 (S 355).
Both materials have a yield strength of around 360 N/mm², ultimate strength of about 550 N/mm² and elongation
at fracture of just about 30 % and they completely meet the standards.
The measurements of the absorbed energy also confirmed cast steel is a tough material.

Further tests with specimens showed virtually no dependency of the material properties on the stress directions
(isotropic material) which is particularly relevant for three-dimensionally stressed nodes. At up to 200 mm wall
thickness there was no distinct dependency on the thickness.
The results of the fatigue tests with small specimens (R = + 0,1, swelling, tension), with tubes ∅ 267 x 20 mm,
with columns ∅ 508 x 50 mm and with arch tubes ∅ 660 x 100 mm are presented in Fig. 35.

All the tests proved that welded connection between S 355 (St. 52-3) tubes and GS20Mn5V castings possess
fatigue resistance corresponding to the welds.
This corresponds to a fatigue category ∆σc = 80 N/mm2 in the format of Eurocode EC3, valid without any
further reductions for welded seams up to 60 mm.

The weak-point of the fatigue strength was never the node itself but always the welded joint between the cast
steel and the normal steel.

Fig. 33: Tested material properties for steel S355J2G3

and cast steel GS 20 Mn5 V (small specimens)

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 Butt joints For 2 ⋅ 106 L.C. determined stress
R=σmin/ σmax =
+0,1
range
With backing Without backing
Pü = Pü =
Plate thickness 50% 97,5% 50% 97,5%

25 mm 112,7 87,5 146,1 123,5

40 mm 96,9 78,8 154,0 135,1
25 + 40 mm 103,6 80,3 148,6 127,9
Fig. 34: Fatigue resistance for welded steel-cast steel-connections
(picture and table)

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References

[1] Schlaich, J., Schober, H.: Bahnbrücken am Lehrter Bahnhof in Berlin. Die Humboldthafenbrücke.
Stahlbau 68 (1999; H. 6, S. 448-456)

[2] Schlaich, J., Schober, H.: Rohrknoten aus Stahlguss

Stahlbau 68 (1999), H. 8 und 9

[3] Mang, S., Herion, S. : Guß im Bauwesen

Stahlbau Kalender 2001; Ernst und Sohn

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