As a professional steel building manufacturer, we are committed to providing high-performance and versatile steel structure solutions in the field of Steel Structure Manufacturing. The core commonality of this type of product lies in its excellent load-bearing capacity, rapid construction characteristics and sustainability advantages, and is widely used in industrial plants, storage centers, commercial facilities and public buildings. The highlights of Steel Structure Manufacturing include: the use of high-strength steel to achieve lightweight design, which greatly reduces the foundation cost; prefabricated components to ensure precise assembly and shorten the construction period by more than 50%; through anti-corrosion coatings and seismic structural design, it guarantees a service life of more than 50 years. As a leading steel building manufacturer, we integrate digital modeling and automated production technology to provide customers with one-stop customized services from design to installation, meet the diverse needs of fire protection, energy saving, large spans, etc., and redefine the efficiency and reliability standards of modern buildings.
Steel structure is an engineering structure system composed of steel (mainly steel plates, steel sections, etc.) through welding, bolting, etc. It is one of the core supporting technologies in modern buildings, bridges, industrial facilities and other fields.
1. Core material characteristics: excellent performance of steel
High strength and light weight:
Steel has an extremely high strength-to-weight ratio, which means that when bearing the same load, the steel structure components have a smaller cross-section and lighter weight. This allows steel structures to easily span larger spaces, reduce foundation burdens, and reduce transportation and hoisting costs.
Typical indicators: The yield strength of common building structural steel (such as Q355) is usually above 345MPa, which is much higher than concrete.
Excellent ductility and toughness:
Steel can undergo significant plastic deformation without immediate fracture after reaching the yield point, and has good ductility.
Under low temperature or impact load, high-quality steel can still maintain the ability to resist fracture, that is, high toughness (such as guaranteed by impact tests). These two points are the key to the superior seismic performance of steel structures.
Uniform material, stable and reliable performance:
The steel produced by the modern steel industry has highly uniform material and stable mechanical properties, which can better meet the calculation assumptions and make the design results more reliable.
Efficient factory prefabrication:
The components are mainly precisely cut, holed, and welded in factories with a high degree of automation (factory prefabrication), with easy quality control, high efficiency, and little impact from weather.
Great modular potential, easy to disassemble and assemble complex structures.
Recyclability and sustainability:
Steel is a 100% recyclable material with a high recycling rate without reducing material performance, which is in line with the concept of green building and circular economy.
2. Main structural forms and application scenarios
Frame structure:
Composition: Beams (horizontal load-bearing) and columns (vertical load-bearing) are connected by rigid nodes (welding, bolts).
Features: Flexible space layout and strong anti-lateral displacement ability.
Application: High-rise/super-high-rise buildings (core tube + steel structure frame), office buildings, shopping malls, gymnasiums, industrial plants (multi-/single-story), hangars.
Truss structure:
Composition: A plane or space lattice system composed of straight rods (chords, webs) hinged or rigidly connected at the ends.
Features: The force is mainly axial force (tension/compression), the material utilization efficiency is extremely high, and it can span a large span.
Application: Large-span roofs (gymnasiums, exhibition centers), bridges (truss bridges), towers (transmission towers, cranes), stage lighting racks.
Grid/net shell structure:
Composition: A large number of rods (steel pipes, steel sections) are connected by nodes according to a specific grid rule (plane grid or curved net shell).
Features: Excellent spatial force performance, large overall stiffness, light weight, rich and beautiful shape.
Application: Large stadiums (dome), airport terminals, high-speed railway station canopies, large exhibition halls, special-shaped building roofs.
Tension structure (steel structure support required):
Composition: Use high-strength steel cables or tension rods to apply prestress under the support of steel structure skeleton (mast, arch, ring beam) to form a stable shape.
Features: The structure is extremely efficient, light and transparent, and can achieve complex shapes with super-large spans.
Application: Cable dome, large cable/cable-stayed structure roof, membrane structure support system.
Arch structure:
Composition: A curved structure that mainly bears axial pressure.
Features: It can make full use of the compressive properties of the material, has strong spanning ability, and beautiful appearance.
Application: Bridges, large building entrances/atriums, industrial tank tops.
3. Key design processes and key points
Scheme and conceptual design:
Determine the structural system (frame? truss? grid?), consider the building function, span, load, economy, and construction feasibility.
Preliminary estimate of the size of the main components.
Load analysis:
Permanent load: structure deadweight, weight of fixed equipment.
Variable loads: floor live load, roof live load (snow load/maintenance load), wind load (extremely important), earthquake action (extremely important), crane load, temperature action, etc.
Load combination: Consider the most unfavorable combination of various loads appearing at the same time according to the requirements of the specification.
Structural analysis and calculation:
Use structural mechanics principles and finite element software (such as SAP2000, ETABS, Midas, Tekla Structures, etc.) to calculate internal forces (bending moment, shear force, axial force) and deformation (displacement).
Stability analysis: Especially critical! Pay attention to the buckling stability of the overall structure (lateral displacement) and components (axial compression, bending components) (first-order elastic, second-order P-Δ analysis).
Component design:
Strength design: Ensure that under various internal force combinations, the component section stress (tension, compression, bending, shear, torsion and their combinations) meets the requirements of the specification (such as the limit state design method).
Rigidity design: Control structural deformation (such as beam deflection and column lateral displacement) within the allowable range to ensure comfort and safety of non-structural components.
Node design: The most important thing! Nodes are the key parts for transmitting internal forces. The design must clearly define the path for transmitting bending moment, shear force, and axial force to meet the requirements of strength, stiffness, and ductility. Common node forms: welded nodes (rigid connection), high-strength bolted nodes (hinged or semi-rigid connection), bolt-welded mixed nodes. The design must meet the requirements of standard construction.
Connection design: It is an extension of component design to ensure reliable connection between components. Calculate the size of welds or the number, specifications, and layout of bolts.
Fireproof design: Steel has poor fire resistance (critical temperature ~550℃). Protective measures must be taken (fireproof coatings, fireproof board coverings, concrete wrapping, water cooling systems, etc.) to ensure that the components meet the specified fire resistance limit requirements.
Anti-corrosion design: Steel is prone to rust when exposed to air or humid environments. Long-term anti-corrosion solutions should be selected according to the environmental corrosion level: hot-dip galvanizing, spray anti-corrosion coatings (primer, intermediate paint, topcoat), arc spray zinc/aluminum, etc.
Construction drawing in-depth design (BIM application):
Based on the design drawings, detailed component splitting, node detail design, and material list statistics are carried out.
BIM technology (such as Tekla Structures) is the core tool for modern in-depth design, which realizes 3D modeling, collision detection, automatic drawing, and CNC processing data output, greatly improving accuracy and efficiency.
4. Key points of manufacturing and installation
Factory manufacturing:
Material inspection: Steel, welding materials, bolts, etc. must have a certificate of conformity and re-inspection when necessary.
Lofting and cutting: CNC cutting is used to ensure accuracy.
Hole making: CNC drilling machines are used to process high-precision bolt holes.
Assembly and welding: It is carried out on a special tire frame, and welding is strictly carried out in accordance with the welding process qualification specification (WPS) to control welding deformation. After welding, non-destructive testing (UT/RT/MT/PT) is carried out as required.
Correction: Mechanical or flame correction of welding deformation.
Surface treatment and painting: Rust removal (reaching Sa2.5 or St3 level) as required, spray anti-corrosion paint.
Pre-assembly: Factory pre-assembly of complex nodes or transport units to verify size and fit accuracy.
On-site installation:
Foundation acceptance: Ensure the accuracy of the position and elevation of embedded anchor bolts or supports.
Hoisting: Select appropriate hoisting equipment (tower crane, truck crane, crawler crane) and methods (piece hoisting, overall lifting, sliding, jacking) according to the size, weight and site conditions of the components.
Measurement and correction: Control the verticality of the column, the horizontality, elevation and overall axis size of the beam throughout the process. Use precision instruments such as total station, theodolite and level.
Connection and fixation:
High-strength bolt connection: Strictly follow the regulations for initial tightening and final tightening (torque method or angle method) to ensure that the pre-tension meets the standard. Friction surface treatment and protection are essential.
On-site welding: Welding should be performed by qualified welders in accordance with WPS in a suitable environment (windproof, rainproof and snowproof), and non-destructive testing should be carried out as required after welding.
Fireproof/anti-corrosion re-coating: Repair the damaged parts of the coating during transportation and hoisting. The construction of fire-retardant coating is completed after installation (if it is on-site construction).
5. Advantages and Challenges
Core advantages:
High strength and light weight (reducing foundation cost).
Prefabrication in the factory, controllable quality, fast construction speed (shortening construction period).
Recyclable materials, green and environmentally friendly.
Small cross-section of components and large effective space.
Good ductility and excellent seismic performance.
Suitable for large-span, high-rise, heavy-load and complex-shaped buildings.
Challenges:
Material cost: The unit price of steel is usually higher than that of concrete (but the overall structural efficiency and construction period savings need to be considered).
Fireproof requirements: Additional costs must be invested for fire protection.
Anti-corrosion requirements: Anti-corrosion coatings need to be maintained regularly.
Stability issues: Thin-walled components are prone to instability, so special attention should be paid during design.
Noise and vibration: Noise problems may occur under certain loads (such as pedestrian bridges), and comfort design is required.
High professional requirements: High-quality professionals and strict quality management are required in all aspects of design, manufacturing, and installation.
6. Classic examples
Buildings: Eiffel Tower (Paris, France), Empire State Building (New York, USA), Taipei 101 (Taiwan, China), CCTV Headquarters Building (Beijing, China), Shanghai Tower (Shanghai, China), Bird's Nest (National Stadium, Beijing, China), Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia - shell support structure).
Bridges: Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, USA - suspension bridge), Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (China - main steel structure), Nanjing Dashengguan Yangtze River Bridge (China - steel truss arch bridge), Millau Viaduct (France - bridge tower and bridge deck steel structure).
Industry: Large steel mill buildings, main buildings/boiler steel frames of thermal power plants, large storage tanks (oil tanks, LNG tanks), offshore oil platforms.
Steel structures have become an indispensable and important part of modern engineering structures due to their excellent material properties, high structural efficiency, fast construction speed and environmental sustainability. From skyscrapers to cross-sea bridges, from large venues to precision factories, the application of steel structures is everywhere, constantly expanding the boundaries and possibilities of human architecture. Successful steel structure projects rely on a deep understanding of material properties, reasonable structural selection, precise design calculations (especially nodes and stability), high-quality manufacturing and refined installation management, as well as strict control of key links such as fire prevention and corrosion prevention. With the development of new materials, new processes (such as the application of high-strength steel, robot welding, 3D printing exploration, and in-depth application of BIM) and more advanced design theories, the potential and expressiveness of steel structures will continue to improve.
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