Comparative Study of Pre Engineering Building
with Conventional Steel Building
Prof.Pooja V. Raut *
Assistant Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Yashwantrao College of Engg & Tech,
Nagpur, Maharashtra, India
poojaraut2612@gmail.com,
Prof. Nikhil S. Agrawal
Assistant Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Shri.Ramdeobaba College of Engg and Mgmt,
Nagpur,Maharashtra, India
nkhlgrwl6@gmail.com
Abstract- Steel is the basic material that is used in the Materials that are used for Pre-engineered
steel building. The latest version of the Code of Practice for general construction in steel IS
800:2007 is based on Limit State Method of design. The design concept is totally changed in
comparison to earlier IS 800:1984 which is based on elastic method. India being a developed
country massive house buildings construction is taking place in various part of the country.
Since, 30% of Indian populations live in towns and cities hence construction is more in urban
places. The requirement of housing is tremendous but there will always be a shortage of house
availability as the present masonry construction technology cannot meet the rising demand every
year. Hence, one has to think for alternative construction system like Pre engineered steel
buildings. In the present work, the study of Pre Engineering Building with Conventional Steel
Building has been carried out The observations made based on this study are very much useful to
the practicing structural engineers. The pre-engineered steel building system construction has
great advantages to the single storey buildings, practical and efficient alternative to conventional
buildings, the System representing one central model within multiple disciplines. Pre-engineered
building creates and maintains in real time multidimensional, data rich views through a project
support is currently being implemented by STAAD Pro software packages for design and
engineering.
Keywords: pre-engineered steel building, conventional steel building.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
uildings and houses are one of the oldest
construction activities of human beings. The
construction technology has advanced since
the beginning from primitive construction
technology to the present concept of modern
house building. The present construction
methodology for buildings calls for the best
aesthetic look, high quality and fast construction,
cost effective and innovative touch. Technological
improvement over the year has contributed
immensely to the enhancement of quality of life
through various new products and services. One
such revolution was the PEB. Through, its origin
can tracked back to 1960‟s potential has been felt
only the resent during the recent years. This was
the mainly due to the development in technology,
which help in computerized the design. The
scientific-sounding term pre-engineered buildings
B
* Corresponding Author
came into being in the 1960.Until1990 the use of
PEB was confirmed mostly to North America and
the Middle East. Since, then the use of PEB has
spread throughout Asia and Africa where the PEB
construction concept has now been widely
accepted and praised. A growing number of
prominent International contractors and designers
,who previously specified conventional structural
steel buildings exclusively ,have recently
converted to the PEB approach. They now enjoy
significant cost saving and benefits from the faster
construction cycle resulting from this concept. A
recent survey by the Metal Building Associations
(MBMA) shows that about 60% of the non
residential low rises building in USA are PEB.
Although PEB systems are extensively used
in industrial and many other non residential
constructions worldwide, it is relatively new
concept in India. These concepts were introduced
to the Indian markets lately in the late 1990‟s with
opening up of the economy and a number of
multinational settings up their projects. The market
potential of PEB‟s is 1.2 million tons per annum.
The current Pre Engineering steel Building
manufacturing capacity is 0.35 million tons per
annum. The industry is growing at the compound
rate of 25 to 30%.PRE Engineering steel Building
use a combination of built-up sections, hot rolled
sections, cold formed elements. The concept is
designed to provide a complete building envelope
system which is airtight, energy efficient, minimum
in weight and also minimum in cost. It is very
advantageous over the conventional buildings and
is really helpful in the low rise building design.
Conventional Steel Building
The design of conventional industrial
buildings is governed by functional requirements
and the need for economy of construction. In cross
section, these building will range from single or
multibay structures of large span when intended
for use as warehouses or aircraft hangers to
smaller span buildings as required for factories,
assembly plants ,maintenance facilities etc. The
main dimensions will nearly always be dictated by
the particular operational activities invoved, but the
structural designer‟s input on optimum spans and
the selection of suitable cross section profiles can
have an important bearing on achieving overall
economy. As reduction in the number of columns
will always result in lower foundation costs. In
large industrial building with heavy overhead
cranes, an economical dimension for the centers
of the main columns is nearly 15m also this
dimension is to make height of the rails above
floor level. In the simpler type of building an
optimum purlin span can have a bearing on bay
length. Where crane girders are not required and
the structure comprises mainly of columns, trusses
(or rafters),purlins and girts spacing of roof
principals at large intervals will nearly always be
more economical.
Cross section used in Conventional steel
Building
The choice of cross section for a single
storey building is very wide. The traditional fink
truss, which has been popular for many years, is
employed. The column bases are fixed and the
truss has nominally pinned connection to the
columns, knee braces also be used if there is not
any kind of obstruction. In this case the column
bases can be pinned, resulting in saving in the
foundation costs. Economical c/s provided by fink
and Pratt trusses and by portal frames, but it
depends on the spans.
Three Dimension Framing
Where the length to span and span to height
ratios of building are within reasonable limits, the
three dimensional bracing system shown in fig.
can be used to good effect. The bracing members
can be light because of the small span to depth
ratios of the bracing systems, but extra care must
be taken during fabrication and erection to ensure
accurate assembly of the frame.
In conventional steel buildings or braced
industrial buildings, the trusses rest on columns
with hinge type of connections and stability is
provided by bracing in the three mutually
perpendicular planes. These bracings are
identified as follows;
1. Bracings in the vertical plane in the end bays in
the longitudinal direction.
2. Bracings in the horizontal plane at the bottom
chord level of the roof truss
3. Bracing in the upper chords of the roof truss.
4. Bracing in the vertical plane in the end cross
section usually at the gable ends
The function of bracing is to transfer
horizontal loads from the frames to the foundation.
The longitudinal bracing on each longitudinal end
provides stability in the horizontal direction. The
gable bracing provides stability in the lateral
direction.
2.0 PRE ENGINEERING BUILDING
What is PEB?
Each component of the building comes prepunched, marked, completely constructed to
specifications OFF-SITE and shipped to site. This
facilitates the minimum ON-SITE work and the
erector has to simply assemble the pieces
together at site by bolting is called Pre
Engineering steel Building. (Reference- TATA
BlueScope)
In conventional steel buildings, mill produced
hot rolled sections i.e beams and columns are
used. The sizes of these members are selected on
the basis of maximum internal stress in the
member. Since, hot rolled section has a constant
depth, many parts of the member in areas of low
internal stress are in excess of requirements.
Column/ rafters (250/345MPa)
Z/C Purlin girts (345MPa)
Profiled metal sheet (450MPa)
In PEB, frames are made from an inventory of
standard plate stock by the respective
manufacturer. PEB frames are normally tapered
and often have flanges and webs of variable
thickness along individual members. The frame
geometry matches the shape of the internal stress
diagrams thus optimized material usage and the
total weight of the material.
Three distinct product category used for PEB
•
Built up I shape primary structural framing
members (column and rafter).
•
Cold framed „Z‟ shaped and „C‟ shaped
secondary structural members (Roof purlins,
eave struts and wall girts).
•
Wind Load
•
Earthquake Load
Rolled formed profile sheeting (roof and wall
panels).
•
Crane Load
•
Snow Load
Countries and their Design Format

1.China, Europe, U K, Japan Australia,
Canada- Limit State Method (LSM)

2.U S A- Load and Resistance Factor
Design (LRFD)

3.India- Allowable Stress Design (ASD)
Essential Nomenclature & Glossary Terms for
PEB

Auxiliary loads: All specified dynamic live
loads, other than the basic design loads,
which the building must safely withstand.

Bay: The space between the center lines of
frame or primary supporting members in the
longitudinal direction of the building.

Bird screen: Wire mesh used to prevent birds
from entering ventilators, louvers, and roof
monitors.

Built Up sections: A structural member usually
of an I shape, made from individual flat plates
welded together.

By pass girt: The girt which passes
continuously along the outside flanges of the
column.

C section: A member formed into a C shaped
profile by cold roll forming from coils.

Canopy: An overhanging or projecting roof
structures, below the eave level, supported at
one end only.

Cold formed member: A light gauge structural
member produced from coiled steel stock
running through a series of rolls at normal
room temperature.

Collateral loads: The static load other than the
basic design load such as sprinklers,
mechanical and electrical system.

Eave: A line along the sidewall formed by the
intersection of the inside faces or planes of the
roof and the side wall panels.

Eave height: The vertical dimension from the
finished floor level to the top of the eave strut.
Standard Codes & Manuals
AISC American Institute Of Steel Construction
1989
AWS American Welding Society 1996
AISI
American Iron & Steel Institute
MBMA Metal Building Manufacturers Association
Advantages
Structures
of
PEB
over
conventional
•
Quality of PEB structure is superior due to
fabrication in the shop under controlled
environment.
•
Structural modification if any due to additional
functional requirement, after completion of the
building are easier in PEB
•
Overall saving in primary member weight is
around 40% due to usage of tapered high
strength fabricated sections.
•
Saving in secondary member is around 25%
due to usage of Z & C shaped cold formed
high strength members as compared to hot
rolled channels & tubes used in conventional
steel structures.
•
Erection time is much lesser than conventional
system.
Design Loads on PEB Structures
•
DEAD LOAD-Self-weight of structures, purlins,
Girts, sheeting, insulation sky web etc.

Fascia: An accessory whose function is to
enhance the appearance of the wall.
•
LIVE LOAD - Load imposed on roof.

•
COLLATERAL LOAD- Load due to sprinkler
system, lighting, cable trays, pipes racks.
Gable: The triangular portion of the end wall of
building directly under the sloping roof and
above the eave height line.

Girt: A secondary horizontal structural member
attached to side wall or end wall column to
which wall panels are attached.

Tapered member: A built up plate member
consisting of flanges welded to web of variable
length.

Hot rolled shapes: Steel sections which are
formed while in a semi molten space at the
steel mill, into a shape having standard
dimensions.

Z section: A member formed from coiled steel
stock into a shape of a block „Z‟.
C
2. Pre-Engineered Buildings By STAAD.Pro
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Pre-Engineered Buildings for Structural Analysis
and Design Software Supporting Indian and major
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multi-material design. It has an intuitive, userfriendly, visualization tools, powerful analysis and
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products. The software is fully compatible with all
Windows operating systems. For static or dynamic
analysis of Pre Engineered Buildings, STAAD.Pro
has been the choice of design professionals
around the world for their specific analysis needs.
In conventional steel buildings, mill-produced
hot rolled sections (beams and columns) are used.
The site of each member is selected on the basis
of the maximum internal stress in the member.
The hot rolled section has a constant depth, many
parts of the member (represented by the hatched
area), in areas of low internal stresses, and are in
excess of design requirements. Frames of pre-
engineered buildings are made from an extensive
inventory of standard steel plates stocked to the
Pre Engineered Building. Pre Engineered Building
frames are normally tapered and often have
flanges and webs of variable thickness along the
individual members. The frame geometry matches
the shape of the internal stress (bending moment)
diagram thus optimizing material usage and
reducing the total weight of the structure.
Application of PEB Structure
Following are the most applications of Pre
Engineered Building are given below;
1. Industrial- Factories workshop, Warehouses,
Cold stores, Bulk Product storage.
2. Commercial - offices, Labourcamps, Showroom,
Distribution centers, Super market.
3. Institutional-School, Exhibitioner hall, Hospitals,
Theaters, Auditoriums.
4. Recreational - Gymnasium, Swimming pool
enclosure.
5. Aviation & Military -Aircraft hangers, residential
barracks, Administration buildings.
6. Agricultural -Green houses, Grain sizes, Poultry
building, Grain storage.
Comparing PEB with Conventional Steel Building:
Feature
Pre-Engineered Steel Buildings
Conventional Steel Buildings
Design Criteria
AISC, MBMA, AWS
AISC, AWS, JIS, DIN, BS
Structural Base Material
All primary & secondary steel used by
Mammut Building System has minimum
yield strength of 50 KSI (345 N/mm2).
In 90% of the cases the primary
and secondary steel used has
minimum yield strength of 36 KSI
(250 N/mm2).
Foundation
Simple design easy to construct and
light weight
Extensive
required.
Seismic resistance
The low weight flexible frames offer
higher resistance to seismic force.
Rigid heavy structures do
perform well in seismic zones.
Delivery
Average 6 to 8 weeks.
Average 5 to 6 months.
Sourcing & Coordination
Building is supplied complete with
Cladding and all accessories, including
erection if required, all from one source
of supply.
About 30% lighter through the-efficient
use of steel. Primary framing members
are (varying depth) tapered built-up
plate sections with large depths in the
areas of highest stress.
Many source of supply. Project
Management time required to
coordinate suppliers and subcontractors.
Primary
steel
members
are
selected from standard hot rolled “I”
sections, which in many cases are
heavier than what is actually
required by - design. Members
Structure Weight
heavy
foundations
not
Secondary members are light gage
(light weight) cold formed (low labor
cost) “Z” - or “C” shaped members. Z
purlins / girts can be lapped.
Design
Lapping reduces the deflection, and
allows double thickness at the points of
higher stresses (support points).
Quick
and
efficient
since
standardization
of
P.E.B.
has
significantly reduced design time.
Basic designs are used over and over.
Specialized computer analysis and
design programs reduce design time
and optimize material required.
Drafting is also computerized with
minimal manual drawings. Design,
detail drawings and erection drawings
are supplied free of charge by the
manufacturer. Approval drawings may
be prepared within 10 days to 3 weeks.
Consultant in-house design and
drafting time is significantly reduced,
allowing more time for coordination and
review, and increasing margins in
design fees.
Accessories
Windows, Doors,
Ventilation etc.
Erection
Architecture
Overall Price
Changes
Since most of the PEB are pin-based,
the cost is reduced due to smaller
sections at the base with smaller base
plates and foundations (in absence of
moments).
Designed to fit the system, with
standardized, interchangeable parts,
including pre-designed flashing and
trims. Mass produced for economy. All
available with the building.
Easy, fast, step by step. Erection costs
& time are accurately known, based
upon extensive experience with similar
buildings.
Outstanding architectural design at low
cost. Conventional wall, and fascia
materials, such a concrete, masonry
and wood, can be utilized.
Price per square meter may be as
much as 40% lower than conventional
steel.
Very flexible, tailor made, accepts
changes and revisions easily.
Future expansion is simple, easy and
have constant cross-sections along
the entire span, regardless of local
stress magnitude.
Secondary members are selected
from standard hot rolled „I” and “C”
sections, which again are much
heavier than required.
Each conventional steel structure is
designed from scratch by the
Consultant, with fewer design aids
available
to
the
Engineer..
Maximum engineering required on
every project.
Generalized computer analysis
programs require extensive input /
output and design alterations.
Drafting is manual or only partially
automated.
Much Consultancy time and
expense is devoted to design and
drafting, as well as coordination
and review.
Every project requires special
design for accessories and special
sourcing for each. Flashing and
trims must be uniquely designed
and fabricated.
Slow, extensive field labor required.
Typically 20% more expensive than
a normal PEB building. In most of
the cases, the erection costs and
time are not estimated accurately.
Special
architectural
design
requires research and high cost.
High price per square meter.
Changes, revisions & additions can
be difficult due to extensive
redesign and co-ordination among
suppliers and sub contractors.
Performance
Responsibility
cost effective. One supplier to coordinate changes.
All components have been specified
and designed specifically to act
together as a system, for maximum
efficiency,
precise
fit
up,
and
performance in the field conditions
worldwide has resulted in design
improvements over time which allow
dependable prediction of performance.
Single source of supply results in total
responsibility for one supplier, including
design liability.
3.0 CONCLUSION
From the above research it is seen that, Pre
Engineering Building are economical in all way as
compared to that of conventional steel building. In
Pre Engineering Building we get large span
without of any obstruction, which is not possible in
conventional steel building. Pre-engineered steel
building is very simple and economical with the
necessary
Architectural,
Engineering
and
Construction. A Pre-engineered steel structures
building which offers low cost, strength, durability,
design flexibility, adaptability and recyclability.
Steel is the material that reflects the imperatives of
sustainable development. Therefore it is
concluded that Pre Engineering Building are much
economical and efficient method of designing and
construction in steel buildings. The Pre
Engineering Building is more attractive with good
aesthetic looks and quality construction as
compared with conventional steel buildings. The
major advantage of Pre Engineering Building is
the high speed of design & construction for
buildings of various categories. The Preengineered steel structures are design for
resistant to moisture, adverse weather conditions,
earthquakes, termites and fire that provide you
with lifelong durability, safety and very low costmaintenance. The roofing system in PEB is latest
product &since it is made of steel, it is easier to
maintain compared to the conventional Sheets. It
is lighter than conventional Sheets.
Components are designed in
general for possible use in many
alternative configurations. Design
and detailing errors are possible in
assembling diverse components
into unique buildings. Each building
design is unique, so prediction of
how components will perform
together is uncertain. Materials
which have performed well in some
climates may not in other
environments.
Multiple responsibilities can result
in questions of who is responsible
when components do not fit
properly,
insufficient
material
supplied, or materials fail to
perform, particularly at supplier
interfaces. The consultant carries
total design liability.
References
[1] Metal Builders Manufacturing
http://www.mbma.com/
Association
[2] Introduction to Pre Engineered Buildings,
Gursharan Singh, 2008. http://www.engine
eringcivil.com/pre-engineered-buildings.html
http://www.laiserin.com
[3] Syed Firoz, Sarath Chandra Kumar B,
S.Kanakambara Rao / International Journal of
Engineering Research and Applications
(IJERA) ISSN: 2248-9622 www.ijera.com Vol.
2, Issue 2, Mar-Apr 2012, pp.267-272 Design
Concept of Pre Engineered Building
[4] Dr. N. Subramanian, ‚Code Of Practice on
Steel Structures -A Review Of IS 800: 2007‛,
Computer Design
Consultants,
Gaithersburg, MD 20878, USA.
[5] IS 800:1984 „Indian Standard General
Construction in Steel — Code of Practice‟.
[6] IS 800:2007 „Indian Standard General
Construction in Steel — Code of Practice‟.
[7] MAMUT Building system of Pre Engineering
Building.
[8] Dr. N. Subramanian; ‚Design of Steel
Structures‛; Oxford University Press, New
Delhi.
[9] Teaching Resource in Design of Steel
Structures IIT Madras, SERC Madras, Anna
Univ., INSDAG.