Australian Steel Institute

ASI – Garage Door design and supporting structures

Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

TIM MESSER
Professional engineer
 Outline
Australian Steel Institute
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• Why are we talking about garage doors

• General garage door setup and layouts
• Design of garage shutter roller doors support frames
 Garage Doors
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1. Why the wind rating for doors rating and design – refer David’s
presentation
2. What has changed:
New clause in AS4055
Where Wind loads on houses are determined using this document, design parameters shall be
derived from this document only. Where wind loads on buildings are determined using AS/NZS
1170.2, design parameters in that Standard only shall he used.

3. This means you have to use table

3.5 (A) for analysis.
 Garage Doors
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1. Table 3.5 ( A) has the following clause

2. The use of AS4055 means you must have garage doors that are fit for
use with the table

3. Garage doors do have a standard AS4505, so you either need to

show thru engineering principles or reference the
standard.
 Garage Doors
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1. Recommended specification

2. Garage doors
a. All garage doors are to be certified as complaint with AS4505 without
wind locks and match the wind specification of this design. The building
has been designed based on a non-wind locked door specification as
such the garage door is to span all opening without the ne

b. All garage doors are to be certified as complaint with AS4505 and match
the wind specification of this design. The building has been designed
based on a wind locked door specification.
 Garage Doors–AS4505-2012 R2017
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Specifies requirements for the design, construction, and installation of garage doors
and other large access doors in external walls of buildings. The standard was amended in 2015 to increase
the door limitations and reduce the requirements for wind debris testing.

Includes provisions to evaluate actions transferred from the doors to the supporting structure.
 Garage Doors
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There are a number of doors that are covered by the standard:

1. Hinged door
• Commonly designed by engineering
principles for ratings

Critical items
• Doors structure
• Door locks top and bottom
• Hinge design
• Door jamb designed for gravity load of door
at all angles of the open door.
 Garage Doors
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1. Rigid overhead door

• Commonly designed by engineering
principles for ratings
• Requires ceiling/roof supports for weight
• Critical - Manufacture to provide support
Requirements
 Garage Doors
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1. Sliding door

• Designed by engineering principles

Testing is not common

Critical items:
• Header guide designed for loads
• If top hung, header designed for deflection
• Top and Bottom locking mechanism
 Garage Doors
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1. Vertical folding doors

• Designed by engineering principles

Testing is not common

Critical items
• Manufacture to provide support
Requirements for both open and shut
Arrangements, open gravity loads can create a
couple at top of support.
 Garage Doors
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1. Sectional door
• Non wind locked can be designed by
engineering principles, however
testing is common

Similar to roller shutter design

 Garage Doors
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1. Rolling curtain and Rolling shutter doors

• Largest door by units supplied in the market

• Non wind locked can be designed by
engineering principles, however
testing is more common
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

Garage Doors

Roller shutter/roller doors today.

1. We are going to concentrate on
 Garage Doors
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There are 4 different type of roller door/shutter structures:

• Non-wind locked door – non-wind rated and wind rated

• Wind locked door – wind rated (not debris rated)
• Debris doors – wind rated
 Garage Doors
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• The standard specifies the door classification and ratings.

For the classification allows for the use level of the door to be specified
with 2 different classifications and 3 sub classifications to give:

• Domestic
• General purpose – low cycle
• General purpose – Medium cycle
• General purpose – High cycle
 Garage Doors
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• Fitting the door within the building is important and can affect your
jamb sizes, the below are conservative values when you do not know
the manufacture for allowances.
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

• Layout
Garage doors
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Garage Doors
• Typical door layouts
 Garage Doors
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• Framing for door opening in

building is becoming
more advanced with
Steel brace and moment frames.
 Garage Doors
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• Background
• AS/NZS 1170.2:2011
Structural Design Actions –
Wind Loads
Clause 5.3.2 Amended
• AS/NZS 4505:2012
Garage Doors and Other Large
Access Doors
• ASI Steel Construction Journal
Vol 46 No. 1 – Dec 2012
 Garage Doors
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• Door Mullions Steel Shed Guide 2014

• Door supports (mullions) shall be designed to resist forces transferred
from doors. It is common practice for roller type doors to be fitted
with “wind locks” to prevent the withdrawal of the curtain from the
guide track at high wind pressures in particular in cyclonic wind
regions. In this situation, the catenary action of the door curtain
applies substantial lateral and torsional loads to the door mullion
sections which should be taken into account in the design.
 Garage Doors
Non wind locked door
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• wind analysis

• For both wind rated and non

wind rated door designs for
mullions and header.
 Garage Doors
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• Design of framing for a 3.5m wide x

3.5m high door in a 4m bay shed with
DH @4m, girts not continuous.
• Away for local pressure zones

• N2 wind design pressures:

• +0.86 kpa
• -0.74 kPa
• Adopt max 0.86kPa
 Garage Doors
• Design of framing for a 3.5m wide x 3.5m high
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door in a 4m bay shed with DH @4m,

girts not continuous.

• Mullion w* = 0.86 x (3.5/2 + 0.25/2) =1.61kN/m

• Mullion M*=1.61 x 4^2/8 = 3.225 kN.m
• V* = 1.61*4/2 = 3.22

• Header = M* = 3.22*0.25 = 0.805 kN.m

• Header = V* = 3.22 kN
 Garage Doors
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• Design of framing for a 3.5m wide x 3.5m high door

• C-section sizes restraint@1.2m:
Trial C150-24 – capacity => 3.56kN.m
3.56>3.22kN.m OK

Header – restraint @ 4m
Trial C150-24 – Capacity =>2.08kN.m
2.08>0.805 => OK

C150-24 framing sufficient.

Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

Garage Doors
• P=2.5kPa door Jamb C sections
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

• Wind Locks
Garage Doors
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Garage Doors
• Pull-in is significant
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• Design
Procedure
Garage Doors
 Garage Doors
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• Calculations – Doors With Windlocks

• Out-of-plane & in-plane forces generated
• Slat stiffness considered in design
• Initial gap (7 – 30 mm typical)
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

Garage Doors
• Calculations – Doors With Wind-locks
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

Garage Doors
• Effect of slat stiffness on in-plane load
 Garage Door
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• Door & Wall Framing

• The stiffness of
the door jambs influences
door
deflection &
in-plane forces
• Rigid & non-rigid
wall systems
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

Garage doors
• Flexible Door jamb load distribution
 Garage doors
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• Cable analysis in Microstran or Spacegass

• Door can be represented as a cable/beam element
 Garage doors
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• Cable analysis in Microstran or Spacegass following USA

works for spring stiffness inputs
• Need to establish Lc
• Rearrange equation for Pcr from ASI book
• To where Ln is the beam length part of the door

• Sub Pdesign for Pcr in the equation and this will tell you
how far the beam element is for the design pressure.
 Garage doors
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• Quick calc - Standard roller door assume – 4000mm^2/M

• 3.5 wide in a 4x4 door
• N2 = 0.86kPa
Initial gap = 7mm
• Ln = (17/(0.86^0.5x(8060x0.007)x(200000x4000)^2)^(1/7)
• Ln = 1625mm

• Estimate Spring (connection movement,

• gap of door,) – 1500
 Garage doors
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• Model in Microstran as a grillage @ 500crts with a C300-30

door jamb
• Mx* = 10.9kn.m, My* = 2.92 kN.m
• C30030 in weak axis OK
 Garage Doors
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• ASI Method

• Basically you iterate on the above equations

until you wx*min is solved
 Garage Doors
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ASI Method
• Pcr = =((80640x7mmx(200000x4000mm/m)^2/17*3500mm)=0.06kPa
• Max def= =5*0.06kpax3500mm/(384x200000x4000mm2/m=140mm
• w*max = = w*max = (0.83-0.06)*3500^2/(8000x140)=8.4kn/m
• w*min = 6.477 (from iteration) kN/m
2
My*=𝑀𝑀 = [ ] = 10.9kn.m similar to microstran results
𝑤𝑤 𝐿𝐿 ∗
0.5 𝑤𝑤𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑤𝑤𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐿𝐿2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
+ 𝑦𝑦
8 12

M*x = from before = 3.225 kN.m similar to microstran results

C300-30 Design OK
 Garage Doors
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• ASI Method
ITERATION FOR DETERMINING MINIMUM LOAD

Revised new movement

(in plane)
iteration Trial wx*min δjamb Lb pcrit Curtain δmax wx*min
kN/m mm mm mm kPa mm kN/m
1 4.214 3.298 10.298 3479.404 0.071 169.753 6.765
2 6.765 4.238 11.238 3477.525 0.074 177.280 6.442
3 6.442 4.119 11.119 3477.762 0.074 176.347 6.481
4 6.481 4.133 11.133 3477.734 0.074 176.459 6.476
5 6.476 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.445 6.477
6 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
7 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
8 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
9 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
10 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
11 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
12 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
13 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
14 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
15 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
16 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
17 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
18 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
19 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
20 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
21 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
22 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
23 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
24 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
25 6.477 4.131 11.131 3477.737 0.074 176.447 6.477
 Garage Doors
Notes are reserved for reference by attendees at the ASI Roller Doors webinar February 2023

• All doors – earthquake analysis – Heavy doors

• Two general options:

- Bracing in remainder
of building
- Provide portal
frame around door
 Garage Door Openings
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• Conclusions
• Design spreadsheet is available
from Neil Creek - ASI SSG
• Information is available from
Dr Cris Moen from Virginia Tech