Elements of European Normative in the Design of Structures and Their Application in Albania

Abstract

This study aims to show the most important elements of the design process. In the beginning there are some sets of factors to be selected. This may be done in accordance with respect to the location of the facility, its exposure factors and its seismic resistance required. Firstly, it is the Eurocode 0(also known as EN 1990) that gives anyone of us a deep insight about principles of the design in the Ultimate States, the classification of loads and the importance of environmental influences. There are also descriptions of the structural analysis which might include static and dynamic actions. Going further, in the Eurocode 1 we are shown a wide range of loads (live loads, wind loads, snow loads ect.) and their characteristic values. These are preceded by tables of construction materials (that will have their share in the permanent loads) in which weight per unit volume are shown. As per seismic calculations, Eurocode 8 furnishes us with ground conditions and seismic zones followed by the basic representation of the seismic action including the horizontal elastic response spectrum (and the vertical one) expressions followed by the design spectrum for elastic analysis with a particular emphasize of the behavior factor. It should be noted that in Eurocode 7 we are shown the main two formulas that engineers can use in order the value the capacity bearing of soils for design of foundations.