DISASTER ASSESSMENTS & FAILURE ANALYSIS

 In recent times earthquakes in the Caribbean region have caused damage to several residential and commercial properties. In some instances, damages to both external and internal structures of warehouses and other storage areas occurred.  Pallets shedding their racking can be disastrous not only for the product but also for people within the warehouse or shopping complex .  Seismic tremors can cause racks to collapse, overturn, or goods can spill or topple off racks if racks are not properly designed, installed, maintained and loaded.

Caribbean Racking Solutions Ltd design systems that can withstand seismic activity due to:

• Top-level engineering that meets current regulations in Trinidad & Tobago as well as the wider Caribbean region (by using highly-sophisticated software).
• Quality materials that comply with international manufacturing standards.
• Usage of structural calculation programmes
• Continuous after sale support such as scheduled inspections, failure analyses, certifications and rack users' training.

Caribbean Racking Solutions Ltd has introduced to the regional market systems designed specifically to reduce the impact of seismic activity, combating the challenges that any business located near fault-lines would want to manage and also providing that extra level of safety and business continuity protection for critical manufacturing/distribution centres. 

 Some Engineered products that increase rack stability during seismic activity are:

• Seismic based isolators
• Heavy duty footplates
• Reinforced frames
• Compact bracing patterns
• Specialized floor anchors
• Specialized struts and lateral bracing

The team at Caribbean Racking Solutions Ltd. constantly aims for the highest level of safety when designing a seismic rated system by taking numerous elements into consideration. To assess storage rack earthquake performance, it is important to determine the ground motions that occurred at the site, the design capacity of the rack, the actual loading of the rack, rack design details, and any other extenuating conditions that would affect rack performance when an earthquake occurs. These factors include the magnitude of earthquake, the depth of the earthquake below the ground’s surface, the distance the site is from the fault that generated the earthquake, and the soil conditions at the site.