Designing Steel Structures – an Introduction
Saturday, June 6th, 2009Look at any modern city and you will find a bunch of cranes tall buildings, amongst the skyscraper jungle already built. The essential component in the development of such edifices is steel. Steel structures are the backbone of each urban center.
Beore the cranes can do their bit, it has to be drafted. This is where steel structure detailing comes into play. Structural detailing design is primary to safety. A huge amount of preparation is required in order to gratify safety regulations while fulfilling all the specifications the architect and client have defined.
A steel drafter is required to know all about force and pressure – when to get the structure to yield to outside forces, and when to remain firm agains such forces, to maximise the unity of the structure. A building must also resist great weights, so this is another matter the detailer must consider. From snow weight to wind speed, a steel structure detailer has to plan for all kinds of external forces.
These days, there are more and more demands for creative building designs, meaning the detailer can often be forced to take on difficult designs and attempt to transform them into a safe living space for thousands of individuals.
Yet, it’s not all tough for the detailer – computer software like Tekla Steel, AutoCad and Asteel have helped hurry up the procedure of drafting and detailing large buildings.