Z vs C Sections (and Why You Need Both in Your Steel Building)

How Are C and Z Sections Used in a Steel Building?

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IN BRIEF

• C and Z sections are generally used as roof purlins or wall girts, helping to create the main &#;skeleton&#; of your building that other materials are fixed to.
  
  

• C purlins are more lightweight and are normally used to support walls and floors. 
  
  

• Z purlins are stronger and used for roofing and walls. 
  
  

• All our structural steel buildings use heavy RHS I and H beams, along with web trusses formed out of RHS & SHS. However, C and Z sections are also used as a lighter alternative for specific areas where load-bearing is less of an issue, and a reduction in overall weight benefits the final structure.
  
  

• Reducing the weight of the building means less steel, and less material cost &#; you can save money through efficient structural engineering. 

Both C and Z sections are commonly used in steel structures. Manufactured from GALVASPAN® steel, these hot-dipped zinc-coated structural steel sections are roll-formed into purlins for commercial and industrial buildings.

Made with a high-tensile steel substrate, GALVASPAN® steel C and Z sections are strong, durable and highly corrosion resistant. Their purpose is to support the roof and wall materials, allowing connections between the main portal frame and the cladding materials.

C and Z sections are generally used as roof purlins or wall girts, helping to create the main &#;skeleton&#; of your building. When used in the roof, Z purlins provide support and transfer forces down through the columns and into the footings, creating a structurally sound building. C sections are used along the eaves to help support the guttering.

Both C and Z sections are fixed to the portal frame, supporting the weight of wall materials and roof components such as Colorbond sheeting and any solar panels or HVAC systems. Roof purlins also help support environmental loads such as the weight of snowfall.

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Have you ever visited a large warehouse, building, or facility and noticed those large steel beams that span the ceilings and walls? Those are known as Z sections! Incidentally, although when you look at them end on, these sections do take on the appearance of a &#;Z&#; shape, some argue that they&#;re so called because The term &#;Z section&#; comes from &#;Z axis&#; (an algebraic geometry term which defines the collective values of a group of independent supporting variables).

While this type of knowledge might appear impressive to your friends or family at a local quiz night, all you really need to know is that Z sections are most commonly used for building support in the construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries.

They&#;re typically seen in constructions such as:

• Mezzanine flooring
• Garage doors
• Metal buildings
• Racking
• Large storage bins
• Fencing

And while some form the bones of a facility (roofing and walls), others like those listed above are used to strengthen structures within. As such, every section needs a seamless fabrication process for optimum performance, ductility, and strength. This is where roll forming comes in!

So what exactly is roll forming and why use it for this process?

Roll forming is the ideal fabrication process for creating metal sections such as wall girts and roof purlins. Why? Simply because it enables secondary processing needs such as stamping and punching and, in the case of wall girts, allows for cut slits or holes along the entire length of a beam, without weakening the piece. 

In essence, roll forming is the process which allows an entire sheet of metal to be progressively shaped through a series of bending operations via one or several fabricating machines. This could be either through:

• Cold rolling &#; using coiled metal sheeting, or
• Hot rolling &#; utilising thick or thin metal bars known as blooms or billets.

It&#;s the hot rolling process which is used to produce many of the structural Z section posts and beams that we see in everyday buildings.

How do I know my wall girts from my roof purlins?

Before you say that one is used to support the roof and the other to support the wall, you might want to consider that each is slightly different in design. Z-section roof purlins, for instance, are asymmetric sections containing uneven flange widths. This allows them to be overlapped to maintain that all important structural continuity. Wall Girts on the other hand usually contain a shop welded clip which bolts on to the supporting wall panel. Girts work in conjunction with columns to strengthen the vertical load while purlins create a horizontal diaphragm that provides support to any roof structure, flooring, or decking.

So there you have it, everything you need to know about Z sections

If you&#;re in the construction or manufacturing industry and need help fabricating your Z-sections, we know a team of guys who can assist! Call Metro Steel today on 07 and talk to one of our experts. 

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Steel Z Beam.