Porthole Beams

Frequently used on a variety of large structures, Porthole Beams™ from Barnshaws are manufactured from standard ‘I’ beams, with profiled holes cut directly into a section via a CNC machine after the bending or cambering process. This serves to reduce the overall weight, while the bend ­­counters the loading deflection in the end-use. Consequently, the Porthole Beam™ offers increased economic performance. Furthermore, the manufacturing process requires no welding work or testing, reducing lead times and less wastage.

The integration of utilities into a structural steel framework during the design phase is vital to maximising the potential of a building. Housing air conditioning ducts and pipes inefficiently can add significant height to a structure, increasing the distance between floors which in a taller building can translate into huge capacity losses. However, Porthole Beams™ offer the option to pass utilities directly through a section, with porthole spacing and shape entirely adaptable to client’s requirements with no additional cost. Using this solution, space savings can translate into entire floors, greatly enhancing the economic potential of a structure in the long term.

Advantages of Porthole Beams™ also extend to customisation. Portholes can be cut at any interval and in a range of radii governed by structural performance. While this supplements the inclusion of services into the floor structure – it also allows creative license in terms of aesthetics. 

Consequently, this adaptable process also enables easy customisation for structural requirements. Haunches, tapers, areas of shear force and the placement of secondary beams are easily accommodated by simply omitting portholes. Combined with Barnshaws bending expertise, this allows Porthole Beams™ to satisfy the demands of designers and engineers simultaneously.

Barnshaws Section Benders fabricate Porthole Beams™ in-house at a dedicated facility, combining unrivalled bending expertise, modern CNC machines and large capacity to cater for a wide range of steelwork applications of any size. Offering short lead times and adaptability to client requirements, Barnshaws can ensure that any project can benefit from high quality, modern and specialised Porthole Beam™ solutions.