Experimental and finite element study of profiled steel sheet dry board folded plate structures

Folded plate structures constructed with profiled steel sheeting connected to dry boards by self drilling, self tapping screws (known as the PSSDB system) are being proposed as an alternative to traditional forms of roof construction. This paper describes the analysis, testing, and the structural behaviour of such kind of structures. The proposed efficient and load bearing structural system consists of an assembly of individual PSSDB panels connected by steel angle plates at the ridges, formed to the required shape, width and span. An analytical model using finite element method has been proposed. The profiled steel sheeting was idealised as an equivalent homogeneous orthotropic thin shell plate elements of constant thickness. Two directional plate elements were proposed in modelling the connection between profiled steel sheeting and dry board to include biaxial shear deformation. The proposed analytical method has been used to analyse the results of full-scale folded plate PSSDB tests and is found to give good results.