MODULAR SYSTEMS IN STEEL

Abstract

In today’s world, modular buildings are getting attention at a much faster rate than anything else due to their tremendous benefits in terms of reduction in cost and saving in time in the construction industry. Different forms of modular systems in steel are used in the market. In this dissertation, all those forms and their advantages are discussed to give the readers an idea about this emerging technology. More focus has been given on fully modular construction and various types of modules used in this form are reviewed from the literature. In this work an attempt has been made to identify the design process of modular application in low-rise buildings. Then, the framework of wall supported modules and corner supported modules has been structurally designed for gravity loads to find out and compare the differences. This technology has been in use in low-rise buildings for a quite long time. But the application of modular technology has now been shifted to medium and high-rise buildings because of the advantages seen in low-rise buildings. There is a need to find new solutions or new types of modular systems that can be used in tall buildings. There is an absence of worthy research in the literature that can help in understanding the structural behaviour of medium-rise modular buildings. This leads to the uneconomic design by engineers in order to ensure the overall stability and safety of the building. Hence, the study of modular buildings under lateral and wind loads is very important to carry out. In order to fulfil this objective, a study has been performed on a 20-storey modular building using an already proposed new modular system which has inbuilt concrete walls. Earthquake response spectrum analysis has been performed using the software ETABS to get the behaviour of the building and to understand the analytical model used for modelling the vertical connections of the modular buildings. Further study has been carried out to find the significance of varying wall length of the stiff module on the structural performance of the medium-rise buildings. This work helps in understanding the dynamic behaviour of multi-storey modular buildings under lateral loads. Finally, other performance aspects such as acoustic performance, thermal insulation and fire safety are discussed in terms of the benefits provided by the modular systems. In the end, recommendations are provided to further carry forward this work to develop more understanding on the behaviour of modular buildings.