Light gauge steel (LGS), like many Modern Methods of Construction, is becoming less of a niche market and a real growth area within the construction sector
Modern Engineered Software Solutions was started to fill a void in the marketplace for engineers wanting to design in light gauge steel but not necessarily knowing how. Our mantra/ethos is “Software for engineers, by engineers” and we produce dynamic and bespoke software solutions for the modern engineering professional.
Starting as “software for engineers”, we have gone from strength to strength, adding more features and calculations as users requested and opening up to other disciplines such as quantity surveyors, estimators and designers.
A bespoke, easy-to-use software package that reduces engineering time for light gauge steel and runs in Trimble’s TEDDS and TEDDS for Word, opening up LGS to a wider audience.
The software allows the TEDDS user to quickly design multi-storey buildings using the available manufacturers’ profiles with the certainty of SCI assessed designs.
The software:
- Is easy to use – design a 10-storey building in half a day.
- Provides calculations to both British Standards (BS 5950-5) AND Euro Codes (EN1991-1-3).
- Provides foundation loads for foundation designer.
- Calculates self-weight of joists and horizontal members on the fly – no more guessing the most efficient option!
- Includes bespoke load-specific fire rating based on passive fire protection tests and design loads (developed with Northumbria University using test data).
We work with many universities across the UK and Europe researching light gauge steel design techniques and developing best practice from this research. In the last year, this research has included passive fire protection and this year we are working on racking resistance using sheathing boards to make the manufacturing process more efficient.
We have an ongoing PhD on floor joist design at Northumbria University and another on wall stud design at Sheffield University, as well as giving lectures at Leeds and Northumbria universities at under- and postgraduate levels to ensure that the next generation of engineers are ready to design LGS using our software.
Designs include:
- Joist and truss design for roofs and floors.
- Wall members.
- Lintels
- Racking/sliding/overturning/stability checks.
- All that’s needed to design multi-storey buildings in two days, if not quicker.
- Bespoke fire rating calculations for design scenario.
Our latest developments have included a calculation that combines multiple individual calculations for roof, floor, wall and lintel into one to allow users to design a house in just two minutes.
This package generates self-weights of the light gauge steel, including bracing, and has the potential to have two-way links to CAD/3D modelling and BIM. This would mean that any user could either enter dimensions and select profiles in our package, design and drive the CAD model, or the CAD model could drive the engineering. Examples are on our YouTube channel.
Steve Napper
Technical Director
MESS (Modern Engineered Software
Solutions Ltd)
Tel: 01423 855938
Please note: this is a commercial profile.
There are many advantages of the light gauge steel construction. The first advantage is its higher strength and low weight. This two feactures make it an economical choice for commercial construction. The second advantage of light gauge steel include cost effectiveness, ease of construction, and increased lifespan. Aside from a longer building life, there are no drawbacks for using light gauge steel. Its high precision in planning and manufacturing results in a lower waste production, which is good for the environment. In addition, light gauge steel is more affordable than other materials.