Performance Assessment and Sustainable Applications of Steel Canopies with Saddle Modules

Jolanta Dzwierzynska () and Patrycja Lechwar
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Jolanta Dzwierzynska: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, Rzeszow University of Technology, Al. Powstancow Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland
Patrycja Lechwar: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture, Rzeszow University of Technology, Al. Powstancow Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Steel is an important construction material in civil engineering. In addition, the building industry is one of the global economy’s largest sectors, responsible for one-third of the energy consumption and significant CO 2 emissions. For this reason, there is a need to design effective structures that are characterized by the lowest possible steel consumption. This article presents an approach to sustainability considerations in steel structures, namely the approach of shaping efficient steel canopies with modular roofs using genetic algorithms. The shed structures, which were designed based on a regular polygonal plan, were constructed from grid modules that were formed on the basis of the hyperbolic paraboloid (HP) units arranged radially, supported by the columns, and covered by metal sheets. The algorithmic definitions allowed for the creation of numerous variants of the structures with the adopted preliminary criteria and for the performance of genetic optimization in order to select the best results. Twenty-four kinds of structures were analyzed and compared, differing in the quantity of modules, module shapes, arrangements, and dimensions. This made it possible to observe changes in the efficiency of the structures depending on the form of the roof applied. As a measure of structural efficiency, the coefficient representing the mass of the shed structure per square meter of the covered area was utilized. The presented design approach and optimal solutions can be helpful in shaping more complex sustainable structures, for which the analyzed sheds constitute modules.

Keywords: optimization; generative design; steel bar structures; FEM; modular roofs; sustainability; hyperbolic paraboloid; innovative structures; parametric design; genetic algorithms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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