Open-web beam frame buildings

Open-web beam frame buildings incorporate a portal frame supporting structure. It consists of interconnected internal steel open-web I-beam columns and struts. These are one of the components of the load-bearing structure, especially of gable production buildings and hangars with significant spans.

The steel portal frame structure we have developed eliminates the disadvantages and obstacles of the solutions described in previous sections like I-beam columns and connected rafters.

The steel portal frame consists of two columns and a couple of rafters bolted together. This is how a pitched or gable profile is made with the columns and rafters made of open-web I-beams converging on one side. Their webs in the axis of symmetry and widths throughout their lengths come with symmetrically made profile through-holes positioned towards each other. Their position arrangement is not random, as it results in their variable stiffness that increases bottom to top.

By using the steel portal frames described above for the construction of a production building or hangar, we are able to reduce the amount of structural steel and thus also reduce the weight of the entire structure of this frame. Given that, we can use girders of up to 30 m in length and, moreover, this type of perforated steelwork significantly adds to the aesthetic value of the building. It looks more lightweight and also its openings allow utility cables to run through freely and along the pitched roof and frame columns.

Computer simulation tests and static-strength calculations have shown that the portal frame made of open-web I-beams converging on one side has a large reserve of load-bearing capacity of up to approx. 30%. This allows the load-bearing system to be increased and additional equipment to be installed in the building without having to change the type of open-web profiles. In addition, the openings of one-sidedly converging and symmetrically arranged I-beams are perfect for being used in power grids, particularly as load-bearing components for their equipment.