CONTAINER STRUCTURES
Modular Structural Consultants, LLC (MSC) is one of the very few structural engineer firms in the United States specializing in shipping container building structural design. Intermodal shipping containers are made of strong and durable materials, suitable for building structures. Shipping containers can be repurposed for various building functions, including storage, workspace, living space, industrial, bathrooms and locker rooms, military and training facilities, emergency response facilities and multi-container buildings. We design the container buildings according to the US building design codes, including IBC, ASCE 7, AISC 360 and AISI S100.
Entry Point Gantry Container Structure
40ft Stand Alone Container Tower
53ft Container Structure Conveyor Bridge Over Interstate Highway
20ft Container with Wind Turbine Masts
20ft Container with Built-In Skid
Self-Storage Building made of four hundreds 40ft HC container units.
Bowsers Castle Field - https://ggsportspark.com/good-game-sports-park-maps-and-playing-fields/
Paintball / Airsoft Buildings (Above & Below)
We do all container sizes. From the common ones 40ft High Cube (HC), 20ft HC, to the uncommon sizes such as 53ft HC.
Container Lifting Analysis
Shipping cargo containers are built per the international standard ISO 668 & 1496-1. These standards incorporate tough structural design requirements. A cargo container needs to hold up about 63,000 lb payload, or roughly 200 pound per square foot uniform floor load. This load is carried by the container framing system spanning 40 ft without any intermediate supports. The containers are designed to be stacked up to 8 high and all loads go to the four corner posts. Cargo containers need to withstand transportation loads in the open ocean weather for months. On top of a cargo vessel, they are subjected to high wind and large horizontal loads from vessel rocking motions on the sea. Most US cargo containers come from overseas and usually for a one-way trip. Afterward, these "fully tested" cargo containers are put up for sale and to be reused for something else, such as for buildings.
Container Computer Model
Shipping container structural members, wall and roof panels are made of high strength COR-TEN steel. The floor cross members, container side rails, beam headers and corner posts are made of various cross sections, some of them are in unique shapes. Side walls, front wall and roof are made of corrugated metal sheets in different shape profiles and thicknesses. Therefore, creating a computer model for container structure is the most challenging aspect in structural analysis. Most structural engineers adopt a design approach using equivalent cross sections by simplifying the geometries, also sometimes by omitting the panels' contribution as structural elements.
Modular Structural Consultants takes a different design approach. We create a finite element model (FEM), that closely mirrors actual geometries, thicknesses, cross section shapes of shipping container elements. Our finite element model is sophisticated yet versatile to adapt for building openings and structural modifications. We use digital wind tunnel software for generating wind loads for multi-container building with unusual configurations, such as L-shape, C-shape, any creative stacking, with roofs or parapets, All of these design approaches yield more accurate design and analysis results, benefiting our clients with economical and safe container structural designs.
Modular Structural Consultants takes a different design approach. We create a finite element model (FEM), that closely mirrors actual geometries, thicknesses, cross section shapes of shipping container elements. Our finite element model is sophisticated yet versatile to adapt for building openings and structural modifications. We use digital wind tunnel software for generating wind loads for multi-container building with unusual configurations, such as L-shape, C-shape, any creative stacking, with roofs or parapets, All of these design approaches yield more accurate design and analysis results, benefiting our clients with economical and safe container structural designs.
[Above] FEM Result Validation - 40 ft and 20 ft Containers, Member Stresses Under Fully Loaded ~ 200 psf floor load.
ISO 1496-1 (6.2.2) Allowable stacking load for 1.8g = 17.1 ksi x 1.8 = 30.78 ksi.
ISO 1496-1 (6.2.2) Allowable stacking load for 1.8g = 17.1 ksi x 1.8 = 30.78 ksi.
[Above] FEM Result Validation - ISO 1496-1 (6.7.2) Side Loading 0.6 Pg ~ 108 psf side pressure
[Above] FEM Result Validation - 8 Stack Containers Under Fully Loaded 200 psf at every container.
Our Design Sketches
We produce design sketches along with our engineering reports. We understand that most of our clients are not engineers, therefore we make an extra effort to create design sketches to summarize the design and analysis results into a format that easy to understand. Below are example of our design sketches from one of our actual projects
More Examples of Our Projects
Extra Wide 40ft High Cube Containers
Container with foundation and embed plate anchor design
Barn House
Honey House
Modular Structural Consultants, LLC.
5760 Legacy Dr. Ste B3-333. Plano, TX 75024
MSC@modularconsultant.com
Phone: (972) 896-5373
5760 Legacy Dr. Ste B3-333. Plano, TX 75024
MSC@modularconsultant.com
Phone: (972) 896-5373