Constructing steel buildings
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The manufacture of a steel building is a combination of engineering, draftsmanship, ingenuity, teamwork, know-how and manufacturing expertise. Some factories fabricate all the required building components ensuring they are compatible.
[edit] Optimising the process
Pre-engineered steel buildings engineers review the building drawings for accuracy and to obtain permissions.
Actual building production begins with the input of building specifications into CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machinery. The CNC machinery controls all machine features including feeds and speeds.
Components of steel buildings, such as I-beams, gutters and downpipes, sidewalls and end wall panels, and even standing seam roofs are systematically manufactured in designated areas called "lines" throughout the factory. Each manufacturing line completes a specific function, automated by the use of conveyors that move the components from station to station.
[edit] Manufacturing components
The construction of rafters and columns starts at a machine that cuts the centre of the rafter or column (like the center of the letter "H"). This component moves to a holding station waiting to move to a station where certified welders tack-weld flanges and webs in place to form rafters and columns. Next these components are fused together and the welds are then checked.
Roof and sidewall panels are fabricated from steel sheeting. Large coils of metal sheeting are placed in a machine for straightening. This sheet is then cut and passed through a roll former to give it the required shape.
Machinery automates the process by which custom trim is formed. The steel passes through a straightener and is then formed into the shape required for all trim components: rake trim, corner trim, jamb trim, head trim, base trim, eave trim, rake angle, base angle, gutter straps, downpipes and gutters.
The steel building components are then loaded onto trucks to be delivered to site.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
Featured articles and news
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.