Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Roofing sheets of industrial sheds have been observed to fail in uplift under extreme wind conditions as in a cyclone.
This paper presents the research carried out to study the behaviour under static uplift loads of asbestos cement and
galvanised iron corrugated roofing sheet systems used in India using gravity load method. About 250 full-scale tests
were carried out on roofing sheet systems with different connections for a span/purlin spacing of 1.4 m. The behaviour
of the systems as well as the ultimate loads is reported and analysed. Tests were also conducted to study the effect of
reduced number of centre support bolts and the purlin type on the load-carrying capacity of the roofing sheet system.
Small-scale models were also used to model the uplift behaviour of the roofing sheet systems at the connections and study
the effect of dimensions of washers and types of bolts on the behaviour of roofing sheet system.
The observed deflections of the roofing sheets in wind uplift Analysis of Failure Patterns
were larger than the theoretical deflections assuming that the The transverse flexural strength of the AC sheet is very low.
roofing sheets are simply supported at both ends and acted This is clearly reflected in the patterns of failure observed. AC
upon by dead load and live load and using the equation sheets with connections 2A, 2B and 3A fail in transverse
(deflection = 5 wl4/(384EI)). For roofing sheet with theoretical bending. Cracks form along one of the centre corrugations or
fixed support, the central deflection is calculated using the along the corrugation containing the bolt connection and
formula (deflection = wl4/(384EI)). The roofing sheet in wind failure occurs by extension of these cracks. Similar failures are
uplift loses contact with purlin and is supported by a few observed in two-span roofing sheets with connections 2A, 2B
numbers of bolts and hence, they are less rigidly connected and 3A. This type of failure is not seen in roofing sheet with
than the simply supported case under dead load and live load connections 3B and 4. They fail by cracking perpendicular to
where it is fully supported by the purlin. In case of GI roofing the corrugations. The failures are of brittle nature and sudden.
sheet, the distortion in geometry and the large transverse
bending has also contributed to the larger deflection. The asbestos fibres are generally oriented along the
longitudinal direction. The corrugations too impart
For the parts of the eastern coast of India prone to cyclones, longitudinal bending strength. The absence of both these
IS 875 (Part 3)-1987 recommends a wind speed of 50 m/s. For factors results in a low bending strength in the transverse
these regions the service wind load can be calculated as 1400 N. direction. Thus, in order to ensure longitudinal bending
Referring to Figure 5(a), the deflection for AC sheet with action, provision of more bolts may be necessary.
connection 2A under this load is 8 mm and still lesser for
roofing sheet with other connections. The limiting deflections GI sheets exhibit high tensile strength in both directions.
are 9.3 mm (British Steel Producers Conference, 1960)9 or 15.6 mm However, they undergo large deflections and fail due to
(AS 1562)3 (Table 2). Thus, the deflection of AC sheets at buckling. The sheets also undergo local deformations at the
service loads is very small compared to the limiting deflection bolt points due to load concentration. This is substantially less
at service loads (Table 2). For GI roofing sheets, the deflection when the numbers of bolts are increased.
ranges from 2.5 to 8.5 times the values observed in AC sheets.
Ultimate Loads
This is due to the lower flexural rigidity (EI) of the GI roofing
sheets (Table 3). The deflections of the 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm The uplift capacities determined from tests on AC and GI
thick GI sheets are very large at service loads (approximately roofing sheets of different thickness and types of connections
18 mm for a load of 1400 N as seen in Figures 5(c) and 5(d)) and are given in Table 4. Each load value in the table is an average
hence, are to be avoided in cyclone zones (to prevent water of three test results. No closed form equation is available to
intrusion). predict the deflection for roofing sheet systems with different
Note : * denotes that the test configuration is not applicable; and ND denotes test not done
Table 5 Ultimate capacity (N/m2) of AC roofing sheet system with replaced by a channel for testing L-bolts or by a pipe for testing
reduced number of centre support bolts the capacity of pipe bolts.
Bolts per Number of bolts at the centre purlin Effect of the Size of Metal Washer
purlin at the 0 1 2 3 4
end supports The effect of washer size or absence of washer in the
connection was studied by conducting tests on small-scale
2 691.4 1758.9 1494.7 models of GI roofing sheet (Figure 6(a)). The pull-through
3 1286.5 2194.5 2016.5 3492.0 loads on small-scale models using different types of washers
for different thicknesses of the roofing sheets are given in
4 1501.2 2378.5 2016.5 4391.1 5859.7
Table 7.
Table 6 Failure loads for two-span AC sheets fixed to different types of The pull-through loads decrease with a decrease in the
purlins thickness of the roofing sheet, the outer diameter and
thickness of the metal washer. The thickness of the washer is a
Type of Failure load Load on Type of Opening very important factor in its performance. The 1.0 mm thick
purlin on the the critical failure in out load washer (MW-3) underwent very little deformation at much
sheet, middle bolt full-scale for bolt higher loads (column 2 of Table 7). The 0.4 mm thick washer
N/m2 of the centre test from (MW-1) easily flattened out and pulled through the sheet
support at small resulting in a much lower capacity. The least pull-through
failure from scale capacity is in the case where the connection is done without a
full-scale test, N metal washer (column 5 of Table 7). The dimensions of the
test, N conical metallic washer recommended by the Indian
Angle 65 × 65 8373.7 4414.8 AC sheet failure 6240 Standards are satisfactory since, MW-3 has performed
relatively well. In AC roofing sheets, such tests could not be
Channel 100 × 50 7049.3 3716.5 L-bolt opens 3170 carried out due to difficulties in making the small-scale model.
Pipe 76.2 mm
diameter 2850.0 1502.5 Pipe bolt opens 925 GENERAL GUIDELINES
CONCLUSIONS
Uplift deflections observed in AC roofing sheets under an
uplift force is very small at working loads. The failure at
ultimate load is brittle and sudden in nature. The GI roofing
sheet systems exhibit very large deflections under uplift force.
Use of thicker sheets (0.6 mm) is recommended. The omission
of central support bolts results in a large reduction in the load
capacities. The use of channel and pipe purlins reduces the
capacities of the roofing sheet systems.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The financial support provided by the All India Council of
Technical Education and the material support provided by the
Ramco Industries (India) is acknowledged gratefully. The
authors are also grateful to IIT Madras for providing all the
facilities for carrying out the experimental work.
REFERENCES
1. S Narayanan and M S Mathews. Behaviour of Roofs of Industrial Structures
to Cyclonic Wind Loads. Proceedings of International Conference on Disasters
and Mitigation, January 19-22, 1996, pp B1.68-B1.73.
2. IS 3007-1964. Code of Practice for Laying of AC Sheets. Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi.
3. AS 1562-1992. Design and Installation of Sheet Roof and Wall Claddings,
Part 1: Metal. SAA Standards Australia, Sydney, Australia.
4. CP 143: Part: 10 :1973. Code of Practice for Sheet Roofing and Wall
Coverings: Galvanised Steel. British Standards Institution.
5. S Narayanan. Improving Cyclone Resistant Characteristics of Roof
Cladding of Industrial Sheds. PhD Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT
Madras, 1999.
6. IS 8869-1978. Specifications for Washers for Corrugated Sheet Roofing.
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
7. IS 730-1978. Specifications for Hook Bolts for Corrugated Sheet Roofing.
Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
8. IS 1367:Part 3:1979. Mechanical Properties and Test Methods for Bolts,
Screws and Studs with Full Weldability. Bureau of Indian Standards, New
Delhi.
9. British Steel Producers Conference. Steel Designers Manual. ELBS and
Crosby Lockwood and Sons Ltd, London, 1966, pp 887-901.
10. IS 5913-1970. Methods of Test for AC Products. Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi.
11. BS 5950 Part 6 1995. Structural use of Steelwork in Buildings: COP for
Design of Light Gauge Steel Sheeting, British Standards Institution.
(a) Modelling bolt to roofing sheet region; and (b) Modelling purlin to 12. ENV 1993-1-3:1996 Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures Part 1:3
bolt region General Rules Supplementary Rules for Cold-formed Thin Gauge Members
and Sheeting.
Figure 6 Modelling of the connection