Influence of Pallet Placement Method on Beam Behavior in Rack Structure

Selective pallet racks represent a key factor of modern warehouses. The geometry of the structure and the way of load distribution significantly influence the system’s mechanical stability. Choosing the right racking structure and its mode of utilization is one of the first things to do in order to properly design the warehouse, making it functional and well organized. Storage systems are a major capital investment whose value depends on the design and how they fit into warehouses and processes, which can also affect the business. Given the characteristics of pallet racks, typically built from cold-formed thin-walled steel sections, traditional welded or bolted joints are frequently replaced with semi-rigid, boltless connections that enhance assembly efficiency and save costs while keeping structural performance. Accordingly, adjustable storage systems are defined by European standards, such as Eurocode 3. As the moment-rotation characteristic is essential in describing connection behavior, research on beamto- column connections has expanded significantly over recent decades, especially in the area of pallet racks. To better understand the strength and behavior under variable loading, various studies, such as, have conducted experimental testing of boltless beam-to-column connections to better understand the limit states. In racking structures, placement of unit loads, whether it’s transversal or longitudinal against racks, could have a direct influence on structural performance. This paper aims to analyze the effect of beam behavior for various placement methods, relying on the finite element method. Numerical analysis of beam-to-column connections is used as a reliable tool and as an alternative to experiments in the design of rack structures. In 4 a detailed finite element model was developed for beam-to-column connection, validated through experiment, which simulates moment-rotation behavior without the need for expensive experiments. The stability of semi-rigid connections in racking systems was analyzed in 5, to demonstrate advantages of direct analysis method compared to traditional calculation methods. Building upon prior research and integrating techno-economic analysis, this paper investigates how the placement method affects beam behavior in pallet rack structures through Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis in Autodesk Inventor software 6. Future research should extend contact modeling and boundary conditions to enable a more robust validation and strengthen the reliability of the proposed design recommendations.