JN has been engaged by FTI GROUP to carry out the engineering development of their Latest building product FTI BlueDeck. Blue Deck is a profiled steel sheeting system that is a rigid permanent metal decking formwork for simplifying the construction of concrete slabs. FTI Group manufacture the high tensile steel formworking system in Australia. JN Responsive Engineers are carrying out the structural analysis of the formworking system to verify its suitability as a structural formwork and to further develop the system to work as a composite slab system, further enhancing it’s structural capabilities. The product provides a durable galvanised finish creating a neat, clean, low maintenance ceiling finish. FTI BlueDeck is an ideal solution for a range of applications including carparks, office buildings, hospitals, as well as band beam style slabs.

JN and FTI Group are working closely with UTS and their new state of the art TECH LAB testing facilities to carry out full-scale testing of the theoretical design modelling carried out by JN. We note that JN were the structural engineers that carried out the design for the UTS TECH LAB Facilities at Botany. Flexural and shear samples have been tested utilising a Universal Testing Machine, high-capacity strong floor, customisable portal loading frame, and an advanced “Closed-Loop” control actuator system for the testing of the full-scale samples. A comprehensive range of slab thicknesses and BlueDeck material thickness were tested for their structural performance to assist in validating some complex behaviors and to compliment the finite element modelling of the system.

Peter Brown, (Senior Project Engineer) Charles Sharpe (Senior Technical Officer) and Brittney Farrelly (Technical Support Officer) supported throughout both testing phases.