REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON STEEL STORAGE RACK STRUCTURES

With the rapid growth of logistics industry, steel storage racks are not just industrial products. They are commonly used in high-rise warehouses and clad racks. Therefore, the structural safety of storage racks is of vital importance. Steel storage racks are distinct from traditional moment resisting frames in the following aspects. Firstly, storage racks may carry extremely high live loads with comparatively light weight and reach up to 40 meters in height. Secondly, the uprights have open singly- or non-symmetric cross-sections and are continuously perforated along the length, the behavior of which is significantly influenced by local, distortional, global buckling and their interactions. Thirdly, the mechanical beam-to-upright connections and column bases are commonly utilized for their convenience in assembly and adjustment. Their nonlinear moment-rotation behavior and severely pinching characterization requires comprehensive investigations. Fourthly, the influences of the asymmetry configuration of the bracing system on the stability of the overall rack structure need to be carefully studied. Moreover, as for the aseismic behavior of rack structures, further investigations are required for the hysteretic behavior of beam-to-upright connections, the collapse mechanisms of the overall rack structures, and the sliding behavior between pallets and beams. It should be noted that besides usual local and global collapse mechanisms, the falling of pallets should also be considered as an additional serviceability limit state of rack structures. This paper reviews researches on the behavior of steel storage racks. A brief introduction of rack structures is provided, as well as the main research methodologies. The main research results on the static and dynamic behavior are then presented respectively. Finally, the key issues in studies of steel storage racks and the related research topics are proposed.