Project overview
This project is a 75 m by 24 m street advertising board in Dubai. Wrenze Steel carried out the modelling and structural design of the steel frame that holds the advertising face.
The 3D model on this page shows the frame: a long, tall grid of columns and horizontal beams in two layers, tied together by diagonal bracing through the depth of the structure.
Our scope
Our scope covered both the structural design and the 3D model.
- Structural design. We set the loads, analysed the frame and sized the columns, beams and bracing, along with the connections and the base details at foundation level.
- Modelling. We built the 3D model of the frame, which fixes the geometry of every member and gives the fabricator a clear picture of the structure.
The structure
A large advertising board is, in structural terms, a wall that stands alone in the wind. It has almost no dead load compared with its face area, so wind decides nearly every member size. The face acts like a sail. Wind pressure on the front, and suction on the back, push the whole frame over and try to lift its windward supports.
That is why the frame has depth. Two layers of columns joined by bracing form a deep, stiff truss in section, which resists overturning much better than a single row of posts. Bracing along the length keeps the frame stable in the other direction and stops it swaying.
At the base, the overturning becomes large tension and compression forces at the column feet. The anchor bolts and foundations must hold the tension without lifting, and the foundation size often follows from that.
Stiffness matters too. The advertising panels need a flat, steady face, so deflection limits set many of the member sizes. Where access walkways are fitted for installing and changing the panels, they add load and need their own safe details.
Read about our structural steel design service, see our work across Dubai, or request a quote for your signage structure.
