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harvey

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Black steel Scaffold tubes ! Allowed to be used in UK or not ?
 
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Black steel Scaffold tubes ! Banned in UK or not ?

Morning Harvey
Page 121 of TG20:13 gives permissible stress for both New & Used tube (Used being black) Black whilst not as common as it was is still in use.
 
From NASC :

Black Steel is no longer specified in BS EN39 the European Standard for Scaffold Tube so the simple answer is no.

In reality the specification should not differ to the galvanised tube so structurally there would be no difference when new. However with age decay will be internally and externally and once under the 10% tolerance on thickness and pitted on the surface may cause it to fail structurally and the fittings may not achieve slip load requirements.

It is ugly and rust can discolour stone work. Manual handling is also a problem
 
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That's interesting. EN 12811-1:2003 says that materials should comply with EN 12811-2. I don't have the latest version of this latter one but the draft I have says that corrosion protection can be paint, galvanizing or other similar. The yield strength of the tube is a different matter. EN39 predates 12811 so I would have thought that the latest standard took precedence.
Does anyone have a current copy of 12811-2 to tell us what it allows in terms of protection?

Black tube may be ugly and may produce rust stains. Rusty tube is better at resisting slip than galvanized tube - coefficient of friction is 50% better than galvanized tube when used with a galvanized coupler. (The science of scaffold fittings is not simple but the fundamental physical force at play is friction.)
 
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