PSI - Issue 78

Leonardo Casali et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1269–1276

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In the first instance, reference is made to Block A. The considerations that will be made below will therefore refer in particular to Block A of the building, but this only by way of example: they can always be understood as extended to the other bodies. The other bodies, in fact, although differing in geometry, are characterized by the same structural schemes and therefore the comments set out for Block A can be applied to them. Block A is characterized by the presence of 4 floors plus the roofing ones. The external infills are made with prefabricated panels that extend up to variable heights and which are linked to the columns of the structure using special tools. The reference structural heights adopted for the calculations and the structural design are derived by the sections of the project, considering the axes of the floor beams as levels of the decks. A summary diagram of the structural quotas adopted is shown in the following Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 Definition of the reference structural elevations of Block A.

2. Performance related to the use of the building Permissible building deformations due to the provided load conditions are lower and more restrictive in the case of building PM3 than in the case of the auxiliary building located on one side of it. These lower deflections and permissible vibration levels on the PM3 building are based on the requirements demanded by the manufacturers of the machinery (mechanical and process equipment, drives, overhead travelling cranes, etc.), that will be supported on the different operating levels of the buildings, in order to guarantee their good behaviour during the operating phase of the paper machine. Limits on horizontal displacement, see Table 1, have been defined with reference to the damage deflection with respect to a fragile supported element, in accordance with relevant Eurocode.

Table 1. Limit values of horizontal displacements - Statics.

Horizontal displacement of building levels (ELS characteristic)

Building level

Floor elements in the operating floors of the PM3 building (excluding the area for actuating motors and other equipment, which will be defined by the PM supplier).

H/500( wind+cranes loads)

Roofs

Hroof/250 ( without crane loads)

Overhead crane girders : - Horizontal deformation of the crane girder, measured at the top of the crane line. - Horizontal displacement of the framework (or a column) at crane level - Difference between the horizontal displacements of the adjacent frames (or columns) supporting the crane girder.

L/600 hc/400 crane loads hc/200 (ELS characteristic) wind+cranes Aδy

Limits on vertical displacement, see Table 2, have been defined with reference to the damage deflection with respect to a fragile supported element, in accordance with relevant Eurocode.