Title: Optimal arrangement for an efficient scaffold support system

Authors: Bilal El-Ariss; Essam Zaneldin

Addresses: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates ' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Abstract: Scaffold support system is primarily used as temporary support during construction. However, no clear guidelines exist for a direct means of predicting the load carrying capacity of scaffolding. To increase the efficiency of scaffolding system, the number of tubes to be moved should be addressed to reduce costs and improve speed of construction without jeopardising the load carrying capacity. This translates into fewer tubes to be lifted, transported, and shifted during assembly. The paper proposes a simple numerical space steel frame model to predict the load carrying capacity of scaffold support system and provide optimal arrangement for fast and safe construction. The numerical results reasonably predicted the load carrying capacity of initial scaffold system arrangements and provided corresponding optimal arrangements scaffold arrangements. The obtained optimal arrangements reduced the number of utilised tubes by at least 7.14% and up to 42.31% and resulted in 5.14% to 25% savings in direct cost.

Keywords: scaffold support systems; scaffolding; space frames; steel tubes; buckling failure; failure modes; load capacity; numerical modelling; construction safety.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2016.073684

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2016 Vol.7 No.1, pp.89 - 125

Received: 16 May 2015
Accepted: 30 Jul 2015
Published online: 15 Dec 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article