Abstract:
Growing attention is being given to the behaviour of complete buildings as distinct from the idealized bare frames on which present design methods are based. In the design of industrial—buildings, which mainly consist of portal frames and light gauge steel corrugated sheet panels, the contribution of roofing material towards the stiffness 9f the whole structure should be taken into account. The effect may be simply allowed for inelastic design provided that the shear deflection of a panel of roof sheeting (complete with purlins and fasteners) per unit shear load is known. In the plastic design, however, it is necessary to know the ultimate shear load of a panel of roof sheeting, and whether it can sustain the same order of the deformation as the frames.
The purpose herein is to set down a method of calculat-ing the shear flexibility of a practical diaphragm by considering the effects of separate components and to study the experimental behaviour of the roof sheeting.
