Numerical and Experimental Studies of Mechanical Performance and Structural Enhancement of Industrial Building SSMRs

In response to the increasing demands of high-technology industrial buildings, renovated standing seam metal roofs (SSMRs) are widely used in the construction of such buildings due to their superior performance regarding heat insulation and waterproofing. However, studies to identify realistic mechanical performance and structural defects in newly applied SSMRs are still limited due to their recent development. In our previous full-scale experiment, the ultimate failure of the roof under wind pressure corresponded to mid-clip failure rather than end clip failure and seam separation; therefore, in this study, the lab-scale experimental programs mainly focused on the mid-clip and the metal roof sheet. Here, the plastic saddle type of the SSMR was chosen as the lab-scale experiment specimen under various loading speeds and angled plastic saddle conditions. The JC material properties were calibrated against experimental results and simulated to predict the dynamic failure response of SSMRs. An additional experimental study was conducted to identify the effect of strengthening SSMRs with wind clips, which showed that 20.77% of the peak load was enhanced after reinforcing the SSMR with wind clips. On the basis of this result, the failure wind speed was computed according to ASCE 7–10 standards with the assumption of a wind clip installed on the corner and edge of the roof panel, indicating that the failure wind speed increased with the wind clip by about 6 to 7 m/s. The current research results suggest a methodology for enhancing the structural performance of renovated industrial building SSMRs.