Analysis and design of cold-formed steel modular building frame with SCIA Engineer

Abstract

The Industrialised Building System (IBS) is a well-known construction method with many advantages for future construction. However, IBS adoption in Malaysia remains low, particularly when coldformed steel (CFS) is used. A study on structural analysis and design of a CFS container module for the IBS system is conducted. The research is comprised of two parametric studies and one comparison study. The first parametric study was carried out to determine the cost-effective model from three parameters, including module with various layouts, the strength of steel, and the size of the CFS steel section. The analysis and design results from SCIA Engineer software of the chosen model are compared with manual calculations for validation. The second parametric study was carried out with the CFS container subjected to various angles of cable-lifting during transportation and installation. From the findings, an optimised CFS container module was selected from 64 models from the SCIA Engineer analysis result. Furthermore, it is found that certain cable-lifting angles would cause excessive stresses in the CFS container module that could lead to premature failure. Thus, it is recommended that professional measures are necessary while lifting the CFS container module.