Coupons cut from the Sunday paper can save you money. Cutting steel coupons takes more than a pair of scissors and the coupons weigh a bit more than those cut from the Sunday paper but they, too, can save owners money on building renovations. The photos below show steel coupons cut from existing beams on a renovation project PMA is currently consulting on.
When renovating buildings, the new building use or current building codes frequently require higher loads than a building was originally designed to support. By obtaining measurements of the structural members, PMA can model the existing structure to evaluate its capacity. The first step in modeling is often to assume material strengths based on common practice at the time of original construction. When this initial modeling indicates that structural reinforcing is required, it can often be a cost savings to the owner to test the existing material strengths. For this project the coupons will be sent to a material testing laboratory to determine the yield strength of the steel. In many cases, we find that the steel strength is higher than the minimum assumed, thus reducing or eliminating need for reinforcing and cutting costs.
