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2017-01-29

Distribution Center for North American Supermarkets

In 2016, NEDCON received an assignment to install the steelwork for two fully-automated distribution centers for two supermarket companies.

One distribution center is located in Michigan and the other distribution center is in Alberta, Canada.

Distribution Center for US and Canadian Supermarkets
906x
Steel Structure for Storage and Racking Systems

NEDCON is an independent company that produces storage systems and has been part of the international steel group Voestalpine AG since 2004. The headquarters are located in Doetinchem (Netherlands), and the production activities take place in Pardubice (Czech Republic). In addition, NEDCON has divisions in various European countries as well as in the United States.

Structure and Design

NEDCON designed a steel structure for automated stacker cranes (AS/RS) consisting of a crane‑operated steel storage pallet rack and a large surface with stages for equipment. The dimensions of the building are 260 m x 0190 m (853 ft x 623 ft) – more than two football fields. The total racking capacity per project is more than 38,000 pallets.

Several steel storage racking systems with a height of approximately 22.5 m (74 ft) were built. The structural members utilized are made of thin‑walled steel sections. The structure consists of diagonally braced upright frames. They are connected by beams carrying product loads resulting from pallets.

In the longitudinal direction, the structure contains no crossing diagonals. The stiffening is carried out by semi‑rigid (hooked‑in) beam‑to‑column connections. This, together with a high‑weight load resulting from the stored products, leads to very high sensitivity to second-order effects.

The seismic loads made the design even more challenging. The challenge was to analyze the displacement of the rack in the serviceability limit state (SLS) in order to comply with the extremely low deformation limits. This would ensure proper performance of the system in combination with automated storage and retrieval machinery.

3D modeling and geometrical nonlinear analysis were carried out in RFEM. The RF‑DYNAM Pro add‑on module was used to account for seismic loads specified by the US (IBC 2012 and RMI 2008) and Canadian (NBCC 2010 and RMI 2008) design codes.

Certain members of the structure are susceptible to lateral‑torsional buckling. For these structural components, lateral‑torsional buckling analyses were performed with RF‑FE‑LTB. The results were compared with and validated by physical tests.

Structural Engineering NEDCON B.V.
Netherlands
www.nedcon.com

Project Specifications

Model Data

Number of Nodes 10723
Number of Lines 9860
Number of Members 9860
Number of Load Cases 9
Number of Load Combinations 7
Number of Result Combinations 3
Total Weight 52,204 t
Dimensions (Metric) 7.470 x 37.820 x 21.803 m
Dimensions (Imperial) 24.51 x 124.08 x 71.53 feet
Program Version 5.07.12

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Videos
Models to Download
Knowledge Base Articles
Basic Shapes of Membrane Structures [1]
This paper is focused on the specific aspects of designing membrane structures that have specific requirements, such as form-finding and cutting pattern generation. An integral part of the design of these structures is the process of finding suitable prestressed shapes and generating cutting patterns. The text briefly describes two basic processes in the design of membrane structures. The physical principles are explained and the individual theses illustrated by examples.
KB 001879 | Influence of Bending Stiffness of Cables
This article describes and explains the influence of bending stiffness of cables on their internal forces. Furthermore, the text provides information on how this influence can be reduced.
KB 001848 | Timber Column Design as per 2018 NDS Standard in RFEM 6
Using the Timber Design add-on, timber column design is possible according to the 2018 NDS standard ASD method. Accurately calculating timber member compressive capacity and adjustment factors is important for safety considerations and design. The following article will verify the maximum critical buckling strength calculated by the Timber Design add-on using step-by-step analytical equations as per the NDS 2018 standard including the compressive adjustment factors, adjusted compressive design value, and final design ratio.
RWIND 2 is a program for generating wind loads based on CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The wind flow numerical simulation is generated around any building, including irregular or unique geometry types, to determine the wind loads on surfaces and members. RWIND 2 can be integrated with RFEM/RSTAB for the structural analysis and design or as a stand-alone application.
Screenshots
Product Features
Feature 002423 | Displaying Results in Solids

The results of solid stresses can be displayed as colored 3D points in the finite elements.

Improved Calculation Performance by Optimized Consideration of Nodal Degrees of Freedom in RFEM

The number of degrees of freedom in a node is no longer a global calculation parameter in RFEM (6 degrees of freedom for each mesh node in 3D models, 7 degrees of freedom for the warping torsion analysis). Thus, each node is generally considered with a different number of degrees of freedom, which leads to a variable number of equations in the calculation.

This modification speeds up the calculation, especially for models where a significant reduction of the system could be achieved (for example, trusses and membrane structures).

Extended Display of Surface Strains

Display extended strains of members, surfaces, and solids (for example, the important principal strains, equivalent total strains, and so on) in the Project Navigator - Results in RFEM as well as in Table 4.0.

For example, you can display governing plastic strains when performing the plastic design of connections with surface elements.

Export RFEM or RSTAB Models to *.glb or *.glTF Format

RFEM and RSTAB models can be saved as 3D glTF models (*.glb and *.glTF formats). View the models in 3D in detail with a 3D viewer from Google or Babylon. Take your VR glasses, such as Oculus, to "walk" through the structure.

You can integrate the 3D glTF models into your own websites using JavaScript according to the instructions (as on the Dlubal website Models to Download): "Easily display interactive 3D models on the web & in AR" .

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Where can I find the update reports for RFEM 5, RSTAB 8, SHAPE-THIN, SHAPE-MASSIVE, RX-TIMBER, CRANEWAY, PLATE-BUCKLING, COMPOSITE-BEAM?

For my NVIDIA graphics card, I need to select between a driver from the "Production Branch" and a "New Feature Branch." Which driver is best suited for RFEM/RSTAB?
Is it possible to quickly evaluate whether the mesh used is fine enough?
Why do the min/max values of the total displacement not match the deformations when working with result combinations?

Why do I get an error message about invalid material when defining timber surfaces?
Does RFEM 5 include a surface contact?
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