- Client
- ZK METAL s.r.o.
- Variants
- Y · A · L · T
- Software
- Autodesk FusionCalcpad
- Role
- Design and structural calculations — on my own
- Status
- Structural calculation under review, then production drawings
- Dimensions
- Not disclosed — contractual protection
Introduction
ZK METAL wanted to start making solar carports and asked me to design and calculate the structure. The brief: it has to look modern and elegant, four cars must fit under one bay, and there can be no column between the parking spaces so nobody dings their doors.
It was the first project I did completely on my own, from scratch. I know statics from school, but here wind and snow had to be calculated according to building standards. I first had to find and study those, including which one applies to what. I had no one to ask.
Instead of four separate structures, I designed two types of arms. Their combinations produce all four canopy variants: Y, A, L and T. Production therefore handles two kinds of parts instead of four, and the variant is chosen only according to the site and the client's wishes.
The structure is modular. A bay for four cars stands on two columns, and two bays for eight cars on three, because they share the middle column. Columns stand only at the edges of a bay, so nothing gets in the way between the cars.
The model and assemblies were made in Fusion, the calculations in Calcpad. I ran them in parallel with the model, so when the geometry changed, it was recalculated right away, not at the end.
Gallery
01Variant Y — one bay: four spaces on two columns
02Variant Y — two bays: eight spaces on three columns
03Variant A — one bay
04Variant A — two bays
05Variant L — one bay
06Variant L — two bays
07Variant T — two bays
Result
As a non-certified structural engineer I can't sign off the calculations myself, so a third party verifies them. At the first check they passed apart from a few errors. For a first independent project of this scope, that was a result I hadn't expected.
The final assessment is now pending. After the comments are incorporated, production drawings and a first prototype will follow.
Specifications
- canopy variants
- arm types for all variants
- cars under one bay
- columns for eight cars
- Canopy variants
- Y · A · L · T
- Arm types
- 2 — combinations give all variants
- Bay
- 4 spaces on 2 columns
- Two bays
- 8 spaces on 3 columns
- Loads
- Wind and snow according to building standards
- Software
- Autodesk Fusion · Calcpad
- Calculation check
- External chartered structural engineer
What I learned
01
Finding the standards and building the calculation
The hardest part wasn't the structure itself, but finding out what it's calculated against. Wind and snow loads, combinations of load cases, coefficients — I had to look all of it up in the building standards and decide which applies to which part. School statics is an exercise by comparison.
02
Four variants from two parts
Four roof shapes would mean four sets of parts in production. So I designed two types of arms, from which Y, A, L and T are assembled. But each arm has to withstand the worst case of all the variants it is used in.
03
No column between the cars
Columns may stand only at the edges of a bay, so the roof has to carry the load across the full width of the spaces and also cantilever to the sides. It also had to stay slim and elegant. Finding a balance between what the look asks for and what the statics asks for was most of the work.