Technology has continued to progress over the years, and has thus allowed advancement in a lot of areas. One of these areas is the construction industry. The use of fabric buildings are becoming more and more mainstream. Fabric buildings are tensioned fabric structures designed, engineered, and constructed to provide customers with clearspan buildings, offering water-resistance, flame-retardant fabric and come with other amazing features like natural light which reduces long-term electricity costs.
As part of the overall make up of fabric buildings include many parts and pieces to ensure structural strength and tensioning. Flat plate fabric building couplers are quite common in fabric buildings. They use a series of fasteners to transfer load between trusses created at each joint. One thing about flat plate couplers is that they latch on directly to any surface that you use them on. Their design allows them to create joints that are sturdy and durable. However, these couplers are not entirely problem-free.
The first problem you might discover with a fabric structure manufacturer who incorporates flat plate fabric building couplers into their design, is possible misalignment. Because of the way the joints are constructed, bending and twisting of the plate can lead to misalignment in the structure. Furthermore, it is possible that the joints experience fatigue damage due to parallel and angular misalignments.
Secondly, flat plate fabric building couplers require a significant amount of parts and pieces causing a potentially more compromised joint and a longer completion time. This translates into a higher cost for fabrication.
Lastly, any sort of vibration that occurs on the fabric building due to weather elements, for example, may cause the flat plate coupler to shift which could lead to failure of the structure. When it comes to tensioned fabric buildings, you want materials that are strong and durable. While flat plate couplers are fairly common in fabric building design, there is even a better coupler that can be used.
Compression couplers have been introduced to the world of fabric buildings and use a threaded system. This means a more seamless fitting, producing a firm joint that cannot be subject to misalignment. Compression couplers are located directly on the center line of the chords and uses two fasteners directly in the load path between the chords. This means that the compression coupler very efficiently transfers the load between the chords and adjacent sections of the building, providing a systematic transfer of load between the sections of the truss.
These critical features give the fabric building more integrity as it isn’t subject to damage by external factors, and require less time to install, offering a more efficient cost for fabrication.
Calhoun Super Structure has been in business for almost 30 years and know the best materials that are suitable for your fabric structure. We have evolved from using a flat plate coupler to an innovative compression coupler. Trust the experts and contact us today for a free custom quote.