▲ Prof. Thomas Kang in the Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering at Seoul National University

The new shape composite beam system was the first in Korea to receive the highest level of building material certification in the United States.
Seoul National University’s College of Engineering (Dean Kookheon Char) announced on July 5 that Professor Thomas Kang’s research team, DRB, and POSCO acquired ICC-ES certification for the new shape composite beam system. It is the first time to receive an ICC-ES certification as a structural member in the Korean construction industry.
The ICC-ES (International Code Council – Evaluation Service) is the highest-level accreditation organization in the US and also globally, evaluating innovative building materials, components, and systems. As it is an internationally applicable certification not only in the United States, but also in Canada, India, and Southeast Asia, the new construction system gained a foothold for overseas construction industry.
The new shape composite beam system is an upgraded product of a beam, horizontal components connecting the columns and supports the slab of the building. The new system has a U-shaped section cold-formed steel and concrete slab connected with L-shaped angle steel to enhance the composite action of steel and concrete. The beam-column joint is made of a conventional H-shaped wide flange section for versatile application. Contrary to conventional reinforced concrete beams, the formwork and support installation process can be omitted, making the work easier and reducing costs and the construction period. Compared to the existing method, it uses 30 to 40% less steel and shows the same performance.
Under the leadership of Prof. Thomas Kang, the SNU-DRB-POSCO research team has developed the design, performance evaluation methods, and acceptance criteria since 2017. The acceptance criteria (AC) were unanimously accepted by 10 ICC-ES evaluation committee members. After that, a series of full-scale performance evaluation tests were carried out with the methods in accordance with the ISO. Satisfying all performance requirements, it finally succeeded in receiving the final accreditation in June 2021.