What is the difference between a steel structure warehouse and a steel structure plant?
What is the difference between a steel structure warehouse and a steel structure plant?
1. Functional positioning and scale difference
Mainly used for industrial production, it needs to meet the functions of heavy equipment installation, assembly line layout, etc. It is usually equipped with large crane beams and complex electromechanical systems.
With large span (commonly 20-40 metres) and high storey height (8-15 metres), it is mostly designed as single-storey or local multi-storey to meet the height requirement of equipment.
The main focus is on storage of goods, and the spatial layout focuses on goods partitioning and material flow lines, usually without complex equipment load-bearing.
Medium span (10-30 metres), low floor height (6-12 metres), mostly single-storey and large-area design, with emphasis on space utilisation.
2.Material and structural design differences
Material Selection
steel structure workshop : Most of the hot rolled steel such as heavy H-beam and I-beam are used, with large thickness (10-40mm), which need to meet the demand of high load bearing and anti-seismic.
steel structure warehouse: favours lightweight design, using thin-walled profiles (thickness 3-12mm) such as cold-rolled steel plates and galvanized steel, supplemented by purlins and colour steel composite panels for enclosure.
Durability requirements
Due to high temperature, vibration and other working conditions, the plant needs to be additionally coated with fireproof coating (fire resistance limit ≥ 2 hours) and corrosion-resistant coating;
steel structure warehouse have lower fire protection requirements (fire resistance limit 1-1.5 hours), but need to strengthen the design of roof impermeability and ventilation.
Comparison of construction process and cycle time
Construction complexity
steel structure workshop : pre-buried heavy foundation bolts, installation of crane track, complicated welding process (≥30% of full penetration welds), construction period of about 4-8 months;
Steel structure warehouse: standardised bolting, modular assembly rate over 70%, construction cycle only 2-4 months.
Equipment Requirements
50-200 tonne cranes are required for the lifting of the plant, and the weight of a single beam can be up to 20 tonnes;
Warehouse components are lightweight (single piece <5 tonnes), 10-30 tonne cranes can meet the demand.
Comparison of advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of steel structure workshop
Strong loading capacity (≥5 tonnes/m2), multi-storey working platform can be set up;
Good expandability, process upgrading can be achieved through reinforcement.
Disadvantage: high initial investment, 2-3% cost increase for every 10cm storey height increase.
Advantages of steel structure warehouse
Low cost, high degree of standardisation, suitable for rapid batch construction;
Disassembly and restructuring rate up to 85%, relocation cost only 30% of new construction.
Disadvantage: weak wind pressure resistance (≤0.5kN/㎡), coastal areas need special reinforcement.
