A Comparative Reliability Analysis of Aircraft Hangars Made From Steel or Structurally Insulated Panels for Rural Alaskan Applications

Abstract

Infrastructure design and construction in rural Alaska creates challenging hurdles that must be discussed early in the design phase for a project. As is the case for this project, a preliminary structural design of a steel and structural-insulated-panel framed airplane hangar was completed to determine which would be more applicable for rural Alaskan villages. With a chosen location of Kotzebue, Alaska, both structures resulted in adequate designs according to the governing provisions (AISC360-16 and NDS 2015 for the steel and wood framed systems, respectively). A subsequent reliability analysis evaluated different limit states used during the design of both structures and the results were compared to the minimum target beta-value of 2.500. The result of this analysis revealed a minimum beta-value of 2.703 for the entire steel structure and a minimum beta-value of 1.064 for the structural-insulated-panel structure. Additionally, recommendations are made about further evaluating both options utilizing a thorough cost estimate that considers the life-span of the structure.