Eurocodes

The EN Eurocodes are a series of 10 European Standards, EN [*]NoteEN means European Norms 1990-EN 1999, providing a common approach for the design of buildings and other civil engineering works and construction products. The Eurocode standards provide common structural design rules for everyday use for the design of whole structures and component products of both a traditional and an innovative nature. Unusual forms of construction (e.g. thermo-nuclear reactors, dams etc.) are not specifically covered and additional expert consideration will be required by the designer in such cases.

Eurocodes are classified as following.

Eurocode 0 (EC0) is the basis of all Eurocodes, therefore the basis of EC2 and EC8, describes their logic and its knowledge is a prerequisite for the study of any other Eurocode. Particularly, it describes the principles and conditions for the safety, serviceability and durability of structures and is based on the limit state concept used in conjunction with a partial factor method.

Eurocode 2 applies to the design of buildings and civil engineering works in plain, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete.

Eurocode 8 applies to the design of buildings and civil engineering works in seismic regions (reinforced concrete, steel, composite steel-concrete, timber, masonry buildings).

The National Standards implementing Eurocodes will comprise the full text of the Eurocode, followed by National Annexes, which contains information on the Nationally Determined Parameters. Those parameters are open in the Eurocode for national choice.

In seismic regions, such as in many Balkan countries and Cyprus, it is necessary to consider the building constructions according to both EC2 and EC8 since they are related as far as the analysis and the requirements of the construction (consideration of multiple combinations of actions, need for axial overstrength of columns, capacity detailing under bending and shear, higher ratios of minimum reinforcements of structural elements etc.) are concerned.

This book deals exclusively with the design of reinforced concrete [*]NotePre-stressed, precast, lightweight concrete, plain and light reinforced constructions will not be considered here. buildings. The EC2 and the EC8 are used for the design of buildings, together with the EC1 that describes the actions on structures and the EC7 (geotechnical design) that concerns the actions transferred into the ground from the structure and the actions transferred onto the structure from the ground, the landfills or the ground-water.