Sustainable Performance of a Modular Building System Made of Built-Up Cold-Formed Steel Beams

Abstract

Modular Building Systems (MBS) offer numerous benefits in terms of productivity, sustainability and safety. Therefore, MBSs are considered as a viable option to sort out the housing crisis in Britain as well as to drive Britain towards sustainable construction. Development in materials, manufacturing techniques, connection types and structural designs with respect to offsite construction is essential to achieve sustainable goals. Recent advancements in steel manufacturing, including Cold-Formed Steel (CFS), have showed potential benefits in structural performance compared to concrete and timber. Meanwhile, research was conducted to enhance the structural capacities of CFS sections by introducing different cross-sections, composite sections and techniques including optimization. Built-up sections were developed by connecting more than one channel section, and various research studies were conducted to assess their structural performances. However, sustainable performance of built-up sections in modular constructions is still unknown. Hence, this paper intends to develop an MBS using built-up sections for better sustainable performance. Literature review was carried out on the sustainability benefits of MBSs in terms of economic, environmental and social aspects. In addition to that, numerical analysis was performed to investigate the flexural capacity of built-up sections with different screw arrangements to address the sustainable aspects of modular construction by introducing novel sections. The numerical description, results and validations are also stated. Numerical results revealed that flexural capacities of built-up sections are improved up to 156% than those of single sections. Finally, the utilization of built-up sections in modular construction with sustainability enhancement is addressed and illustrated in a conceptual diagram.

Web crippling behaviour and design of aluminium SupaCee sections

“…Major parts of the FE model are SupaCee section and bearing plate. SupaCee section was modelled using 5 mm x 5 mm mesh considering past similar research studies [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, 1 mm x 5 mm mesh size was opted for the corner regions.…”

Comparison of the Embodied Carbon Emissions and Direct Construction Costs for Modular and Conventional Residential Buildings in South Korea

“…There are three main benefits of modular construction: (1) higher quality, (2) shorter construction period, and (3) eco-friendly building methods [4,32,33]. A consistently high fabrication quality can be achieved through repeated task performance by skilled factory workers [34].…”

“…Modular construction has been shown to reduce waste by 10-15%, as compared to conventional construction methods [21,38]. Recent research on modular housing has generally focused There are three main benefits of modular construction: (1) higher quality, (2) shorter construction period, and (3) eco-friendly building methods [4,32,33]. A consistently high fabrication quality can be achieved through repeated task performance by skilled factory workers [34].…”

Sustainable Design for CFS Structures: Experimental Data and Numerical Models of Hinged Connections

“…Cold-formed steel (CFS) profile structures may represent a solution for this new challenge of achieving a sustainable design process. There are already over 100 years of experience in using CFS [1], but intensive research has been carried out only in the last 50 years [2][3][4][5], while in the last 30 years it has begun to increase even more [6][7][8]. Some of that research focused on profile section or structural systems and others on the connection types between profiles under different type of loadings.…”