Container

CONTAINER STRUCTURES

Modular Structural Consultants, LLC (MSC) is one of the very few structural engineering firms in the United States specializing in ISO shipping container building structural design. We offer engineering services for container structure design, serving clients in the US and other countries around the world, ensuring innovative solutions tailored to diverse needs. Our team leverages advanced technology, combined with extensive structural engineering knowledge, industry experience, and expertise in container design, to deliver reliable, economical and safe container structures. We design the container buildings according to the US building design codes, including International Building Code (IBC), design loads for building and other structures with ASCE 7, steel design with AISC 360 and AISI S100.

Shipping containers are made of strong and durable materials, suitable for building structures. Shipping containers can be repurposed for various building functions in commercial, industrial and military use, including office, storage, workspace, living space, bathrooms and locker rooms, military training facilities, emergency response facilities, equipment enclosure and multi-container buildings.

Entry Gantry & Guard House Container Structure

View photos of structures taken after Hurricane Milton on October 9th, 2024. These container structures performed well during the Category III hurricane, remaining intact and demonstrating excellent collaboration in engineering, manufacturing, and construction execution. Manufacturer by BMarko Structures (bmarkostructures.com). General Contactor by Ashmark Construction (ashmark.com)

Multi-story Container Building

40ft Stand Alone Container Tower

20ft Container with Wind Turbine Masts

20ft Container with Built-In Skid

53ft Conveyor Bridge Over an Interstate Highway

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

ISO shipping containers are constructed in accordance with the international standard ISO 1496-1, which mandates rigorous structural design requirements. These containers must withstand a payload of approximately 63,000 pounds, equivalent to a uniform floor load of around 200 pounds per square foot. The payload is supported by the container's framing system, which spans from 20 to 40 feet without intermediate supports. Designed for stacking up to eight high, all loads are channeled to and carried by the four corner posts. A shipping container, also known as an intermodal container, is a standardized container designed for transportation of goods by multiple modes of transportation, such as ocean freights (ships), rail transport (trains) and road transport (trucks). Shipping containers must withstand transportation loads in harsh open ocean weather conditions for extended periods. On the deck of a cargo vessel, they are exposed to high winds and significant horizontal loads generated by the vessel's rocking motions at sea. Notably, most US shipping containers originate from overseas and typically make a one-way trip. Afterward, these "fully tested" shipping containers are sold and repurposed for alternative uses, such as building construction.

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. MSC has developed a high definition Finite Element Model (FEM) for container structure design. This advanced simulation technique enables more accurate results, detailed analysis of localized effects, simulation of complex behaviors, and optimization of designs. We created finite element models that closely mirror the 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 creative configurations, with or without roofs and 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.

[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.

Container Industry Nomenclature

Did you know?

1. There are two common container heights: High Cube (HC) at 9'-6" total height and Standard Height (SH) at 8'-6" total height.
2. The 40ft container total length is 40'-0". However, the 20ft container total length is 19'-10 1/2".

3. There are two kind of shapes for the bottom side rails: C-Section and Z-Section.
The C-Section is more commonly seen on 40ft containers. Based on observation, newer 40ft containers are increasingly made with Z-Section bottom rails. In contrast, 20ft containers are almost always made with Z-Section bottom rails, and it's rare to see, if any, a 20ft container with C-Section bottom rails.

Container Door FEM

Buckling Analysis

In engineering, buckling failure occurs when a structural member undergoes sudden collapse under high compression loads, despite the actual load being lower than the material's ultimate capacity. The buckling capacity of a structural member is influenced by various factors, including cross-sectional shape and size, member length and slenderness ratio, material properties, loading conditions and boundary conditions, making buckling analysis a complex topic. Accurate determination of buckling capacity is crucial when designing container buildings and performing container lifting analysis. In ISO container structures, buckling failure can occur at door posts, front corner posts and any reinforcement posts in between. During container lifting with angled cables, the top rail may experience high compression forces.

[Below] Top Rail Buckling Analysis for Container Lifting

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