Clamps and saddles – Part 1: Refined design approaches

The article presents the current status of the revision of EN 1993‐1‐11 with regard to the design of saddles and clamps for ropes or for parallel wire tension components for suspended structures. The focus here is on presenting a general approach for clamps. For saddles, emphasis is on types where the slip resistance is – in addition to the component from deviation forces – increased by clamping forces, although general aspects are also covered. The starting point is a (retrospective) look at the provisions in national standards and guidelines as well as in the current version of EN 1993‐1‐11 (2006). Subsequently, the new provisions are presented, and the different new coefficients are explained in detail.