Summary:
The design of industrial buildings is governed mainly by functional requirements and the need for economy of construction. In cross section these buildings will range from single or multi-bay structures of large span when intended for use as warehouses or aircraft hangars to smaller span buildings as required for factories, assembly plants, maintenance facilities, packing plants, etc. The main dimensions will nearly always be dictated by the particular operational activities involved, 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. Discussions between the owner or his architect and the engineer at an early stage of planning can help to secure a good balance between operational and structural considerations. An aspect where the structural designer can make a more direct contribution is in the lengthwise dimensions, i.e. the bay lengths of the building. Here a balance must be struck between large bays involving fewer, heavier main components such as columns, trusses, purlins, crane beams, etc, and smaller bays with a larger number of these items at lower unit mass. An important consideration in this regard is the cost of foundations, since a reduction in the number of columns will always result in lower foundation costs.