We are looking at a small job which includes a bronze sculpture. We are checking the interface between the bronze sculpture and the supporting structure. The interface is basically a hold down base plate utilising 4 hold down bolts, so analysis is straightforward. We have the geometry from the foundry along with material details for the ingots used to cast the sculpture (silicone bronze). We are doing a literature search to see if there are any published structural codes of practice for bronze structures. Would members here know of any? Or any other references which could be useful?
In the UK it is recognised that there can be limited engineering input into the design of these, even though they can be substantial. It has been raised to on the UK Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures (CROSS) system.
The material for the sculpture has been chosen by the artist. The sculpture is a foundry cast in Bronze as this is the artists chosen medium. It is what we have I’m afraid.
The analysis is the same regardless of material, it is the structural code checks for acceptability I was looking to see if codes exist for. For steel design it would be Eurocode 3, AISC 360 etc, for aluminium design it would be Eurocode 9 etc. Copper/Bronze are not ‘normal’ structural materials, and as far as I can tell there are no design codes, hence my original query.
Thanks SRA, I’ll take a look at those references. It the absence of anything else, we were considering using a working stress approach adopting the AISC 9th edition factors, in conjunction with the appropriate material properties for the bronze.
But it is useful to dig around and see if anyone knows of something that may be handy.
Speaking of dig, the Bronze Structure Code of Hammurabi c. 1765 BC could be useful [with an Akkadian translator]. Apologies but could not resist some historical humour (if it counts as).
Hi, I am also hunting for some design guidance for silicon bronze sculptures. I was wondering if you managed to come across anything or would be able to share with me how you proceeded with your project? Thanks
Apologies for the delay. I’m afraid I want able to get anything specific. We modified some of the details to use steel components where we wanted to ensure adequate strength. For areas that remained bronze we just used normal engineering and selected an allowable stress. A bit simplistic perhaps.