Notes from the design office
The PEB optimisation blog.
Practical writing on pre-engineered building design: tapered built-up I-sections, IS 800 and AISC 360 checks, LRFD and ASD, and getting lighter PEB frames out of STAAD.Pro. Written by a working PEB engineer, for working PEB engineers.
- PEB optimisation
- Tapered sections
- Design codes
- STAAD.Pro
- PEB frames
All articles
Designing tapered built-up I-sections for PEB frames
Flange width versus thickness, web depth versus shear buckling, and taper versus the moment diagram: proportioning tapered built-up I-sections that are light and buildable.
Design codesIS 800:2007 vs AISC 360 for PEB frame design
Partial safety factors, load combinations, section classification, lateral-torsional buckling and interaction: the differences between IS 800:2007 and AISC 360 that change your PEB sections.
Design codesLRFD vs ASD in steel design, with a worked PEB example
What LRFD and ASD really change in AISC 360, worked through on an illustrative PEB rafter, including the dead-to-live ratio where the two methods cross over.
STAAD.ProPEB frame design in STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition (STAAD 2023, 2024 and 2025)
Our PEB frame workflow in STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition, from geometry and the TAPERED member property to loads, combinations, code checks, and where optimisation slots in.
PEB framesPortal frame vs A-type frame in pre-engineered buildings
Clear-span A-type frames, multi-span and mono-slope portals: what each is, when it is economical, and the layout decisions that come before section optimisation.
Free frame check
Send us one frame. We’ll show you the saving.
Share a STAAD.Pro model of one PEB frame you have already designed. We run it through the optimizer and send back the lighter sections, the utilisation of each member and the weight difference. Your model stays private.