ECCS/CIB Joint Committee on Sandwich Constructions: Recent European Recommendations on Design and Testing

Light-weight sandwich panels, made of two metal faces separated by an insulating core material, are modern pre-fabricated construction components. The design, manufacture and use of these composite structural elements have required continuous development of regulations and standards. The Joint Committee is the combination of two working groups; CIB W056 Lightweight constructions and ECCS TWG 7.9 Sandwich panels and related structures. It therefore provides a powerful forum for the consideration of international research and development of the design, testing and end-use of sandwich panels. This paper introduces the Joint Committee and its work by outlining its history and its most important publication, European Recommendation for sandwich panels. The significant influence of the Committee on the recently published European Product Standard EN 14509 is also described. Focus is then directed to the latest publications of the Joint Committee, namely the Preliminary European Recommendations for Testing and Design of fastenings for sandwich panels and the State of the art report for Design of Sandwich Panels with Openings. The latter is still under preparation and will probably be published in 2010.