DESIGN ASSISTED BY LABORATORY TESTS OF STAINLESS STEEL STRUCTURES

The purpose of this work is to analyse how the concept of “design assisted by testing” has been applied to the re-functionalize plan of the façade’s stone cladding of the GMPT-E building, belong-ing to the Cittadella Politecnica, situated in Corso Castelfidardo n.36 in Turin. The construction of a new supporting substructure in stainless steel has been planned for the stone cladding in Balmoral red granite slabs. The proposal of this new structure is linked to the need to find a solution for the problem related to the imperfect flatness of the fixing surface. This type of coating, in fact, provides a very low tolerance, as the desired final effect is that of a perfectly flat granite surface. For this purpose, for the construction of the steel structure, slip-resistant connec-tions with slotted holes have been adopted and subjected to laboratory tests, in order to validate the assumptions made during the design phase. The aim of this work is to analyse this type of junctions, highlighting their ability to contain the slid-ing of the connected parts, aspect confirmed by the laboratory tests carried out.