Recent Trends and Future Direction in the Technology for Structural Steels Used in Buildings

This paper summarizes technology relating to building products by showing the development of steel framed buildings from the start of shape production and introduces steels for building use developed by Nippon Steel, along with the development of building technology. Also addressed is the ten-year decline in public trust of the reliability of steelframed buildings caused by the heavy damage resulting from Great Hanshin earthquake, and the detection of fake building certification in Japan. And schemes applied to restore the confidence under Nippon Steel's leadership are introduced. Future prospects in building products technology are also discussed. Prospects include a structural hierarchy to allow high-performance steels to be applied with the best combination. New high-strength steel is being developed through the research.