Analysis of large proprietary access scaffold structures

This paper describes the analysis of large proprietary scaffolds. Scaffold structures are slender and sensitive to stability effects and therefore geometrically non-linear analyses have been applied to them. The analysis of a twelve-lift structure subjected to combinations of wind and live loading by the use of two-dimensional models is discussed. Joints in proprietary scaffolds exhibit different semi-rigid stiffnesses when subjected to bending moments in different directions. These stiffnesses require non-linear joint models in analyses. Improvements in the performance of two-dimensional models by the use of springs modelling the interactions between the two faces parallel to the fa̋ade and between adjacent frames perpendicular to the fa̋ade are discussed.