Research - , England, United Kingdom
Since 2005, MZA has developed a sector of the company dedicated to study and research into steel connections and numerical methods for structural engineering, in collaboration with the Department of Civil Engineering of Padova University.In 2007 the firm was awarded European funding for the project Numerical analysis for the mechanical response of railway tracks subjected to impulsive cyclic loads, in collaboration with the Federico II University of Naples.In 2008, having presented parametric numerical studies to the members of CEN–TC250/SC9, MZA was appointed by Socotec France to carry out verification of the aluminium brackets in the CMA-CGM headquarters tower (Marseille), with non-linear hardening criteria based on the Ramberg-Osgood formulation. Furthermore, since 2014 MZA has been working together with the Department of Civil, Environmental & Mechanical Engineering of Trento University and the CCTH (Centre of Competence for Tubes and Hollow Sections, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) on a research study entitled Complex joints in tubular structures manufactured exploiting laser cutting techniques, focusing on the field of robotic-laser bevelling of tubular end-members according to the recent European standard EN 1090 (Execution of steel and aluminium structures) and AS/NZS 5131 (Structural steelwork – fabrication and erection). In 2019, in cooperation with the Faculty of Engineering Technology of EGS University (Paris), the laser company CMM Laser (Mantova) and Arup (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg), MZA Research achieved the first 5 samples of CHS-to-CHS T-joints, with continuous variation in the post-bevelled dihedral angle along the intersection path, allowing for the detailed documentation of the throat-plane size and stress distribution through the weld region of a fully welded PJP (Partial Joint Penetration), in accordance to the international welding codes EN (ISO) 9692 (european), AS/NZS1554 (australian/newzealand) and AWS-D1.1 (american).