We can accurately analyse any clad single-storey steel structure, of any size, right down to the individual fasteners, panels and cleats.
Most structural analyses completely disregard the effect of cladding, however, both theory and numerous tests agree that the reality is quite different.
Under horizontal loading the cladding can significantly impact the load paths, and in some cases may be damaged.
Built on the foundation of decades of research
Our software has been developed to the highest commercial standards and takes advantage of research published in the last few years. The central elastic-plastic analysis engine is based on the same one used to design hundreds of portal frames in the UK, but our enhancements allow us to analyse much larger structures in 3D including detailed consideration of the cladding.
The information you need, fast!
For large structures there are likely to hundreds of thousands of elements, each with numerous results. Our advanced post processors automatically extract the information most important to designers, rapidly calculating the SLS and ULS of the complete structure. We provide these critical outputs in an easy to read form.
CASE STUDY – A SMALL CLAD SHED TESTED UNDER HORIZONTAL LOAD
“Both the calculated and measured deflections of the unclad structure are completely fictitious for the clad structure and this conclusively demonstrates that the load paths through the clad structure are quite different from those for the bare frames as conventionally designed. The clad structure did not act as a series of individual frames but rather as a complete three-dimensional entity and approximately 90% of the horizontal load was resisted by the clad gable frames with the remaining 10% being resisted by the internal frames“
What can we analyse?
SCIT can rapidly construct and analyse detailed finite element models of all the most common forms of single-storey steel-framed structures:
What do you receive?
Using the results from our state of the art models, we can provide detailed numerical reports and diagnostics. These provide a valuable insight into the true behaviour of your clad structure.
The Serviceability Limit State of your structure is likely to be defined by failures of the cladding, or the interface between the cladding and the structure – we can show you where cladding is most liable to fail, and provide advice and guidance on how designs might be modified to improve performance and reduce the likelihood of premature failure .
