Built-Up I-Beam Assembly for Custom Lightweight Structural Beams
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standardized structural steel components are limited in customization, leading to inefficiencies in specific use cases, as they cannot be tailored to meet the unique requirements of various applications.
Innovation Solution
A method of fabricating built-up beams by cutting web openings, flange openings, and bolt holes in I-beams to vary their cross-sectional profile, allowing them to be stacked and bolted together with beam spanning members, creating a customized, deep, yet lightweight structural configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If standardized structural steel components are used, then manufacturing efficiency and consistency are improved, but customization capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The beam is divided into multiple I-beam subcomponents that can be independently manufactured using standardized processes, then assembled together. This segmentation allows each subcomponent to be produced efficiently through standardization while the overall beam configuration can be customized by selecting and arranging different subcomponents.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple I-beam subcomponents are nested or stacked together to form a built-up beam. The subcomponents are positioned one on top of another and connected through bolt holes, creating a composite structure that combines the advantages of standardized manufacturing with customized structural properties.
2Adaptability or versatility
If built-up steel components with multiple individual elements are used, then customization capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The built-up beam is segmented into standardized I-beam subcomponents with uniform cross-sectional profiles. This segmentation reduces complexity by using repeating, standardized elements rather than entirely custom-shaped components, while still achieving customization through the arrangement and configuration of these segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The I-beam subcomponents serve multiple functions: they provide structural strength, allow for customization through selective arrangement, and enable efficient manufacturing through standardized production. The universal I-beam design can be used in various configurations to meet different customization requirements.
3Weight of moving object
If web openings and flange openings are cut in I-beams, then weight is reduced, but structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Openings are strategically positioned in specific locations of the I-beam web and flanges where material can be removed with minimal impact on overall structural strength. The local quality of the beam is optimized by maintaining material in critical load-bearing areas while removing material in less critical regions.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple I-beam subcomponents with openings are combined through bolting to form a built-up beam. The merging of subcomponents distributes structural loads across multiple elements, compensating for the strength reduction caused by openings in individual subcomponents while achieving overall weight reduction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the creation of customized, efficient structural beams that can be tailored for specific applications, offering improved load-carrying capacity and reduced weight, while allowing for easy assembly and disassembly.
Implementation Method 1
Cutting the plurality of web openings and the plurality flange openings in each I-beam may include CNC thermal cutting each of the openings
Data Source
AI summary
A built-up beam includes a pair of I-beams each having opposing flanges, a web that extends between the opposing flanges, a plurality of flange openings in each of the opposing flanges, a plurality of web openings in the web, and a plurality of bolt holes in one of the opposing flanges. The I-beams are stacked together flange-to-flange in a stacked beam configuration and a plurality of bolts extend through the plurality of bolt holes and secure the pair of I-beams together in the stacked beam configuration.