CEILSoft — suspended ceiling design (SI 5103 · SI 1924)
CEILSoft is a program for the design of suspended ceilings to SI 5103 (the Israeli standard) and SI 1924, calculating the whole system in a single file: from the ceiling geometry and the loads, through the supporting grid, the hangers and the top fixings, to the earthquake, wind, fire and acoustic checks. It is intended for structural engineers, systems designers and ceiling contractors in Israel.
What sets it apart is that it does not stop at the grid. Most tools calculate a profile or a carrier; CEILSoft carries on to the top fixing and runs the anchor check in the AAS engine to EN 1992-4, so that the ceiling and its anchorage into the concrete slab are checked under the same assumptions.
Ceiling geometry and loads — SI 412 · SI 5103 §5.4
The calculation opens with the project details and the ceiling type, followed by the ceiling geometry. The loads module works to SI 412 and to SI 5103 §5.4 — that is, to the load requirements specific to suspended ceilings and not to a general estimate. The ceiling type selected at the start of the file goes on governing every check that follows.
Supporting grid — primary and secondary carriers
The grid is designed on two levels: primary carriers and secondary carriers. That separation is what makes it possible to follow the load path from the suspended element to the secondary carrier, from there to the primary carrier, and on to the hangers — and to see exactly where the system is governed. Any change in spacing or in section rolls through that same path.
Hangers and top fixings — AAS · EN 1992-4
The hangers and top fixings are calculated in a separate module, and the top fixing is checked as an ADIT anchor through the AAS engine to EN 1992-4. This is the point at which a suspended ceiling actually fails, and it is also the point at which most ceiling calculations fall back on a generic table. Here it is checked in the same engine that the rest of the ADIT programs use for anchor checks.
Perimeter, earthquake and bracing — SI 413 · SI 5103-1 §14
The perimeter module designs the connection to the walls. The earthquake check rests on it, and is carried out to SI 413 and to SI 5103-1 §14, including compression struts and bracing wires to §14.2.7. A suspended ceiling in Israel is checked seismically even when it is light, and this section translates the requirement into the components that are actually installed: a perimeter connection, compression struts and wires.
Wind, luminaires and edge fittings — SI 414 · §7 · 5103-4 §8
For an external or open ceiling the program runs a wind check to SI 414. In parallel, the luminaires and edge fittings module deals with the concentrated loads that are actually hung from the ceiling, to §7 and to 5103-4 §8. These are the two common sources of local failure in suspended ceilings — wind load on an open ceiling, and a heavy fitting hung on an element that was not designed to carry it.
Fire and acoustics — SI 755 · SI 921 · SI 1004
The fire and acoustics section rests on SI 755, SI 921 and SI 1004. It sits in the same file as the static calculation, so that the fire and acoustic requirements are examined against the same system that was designed, and not as a separate layer added once the grid has already been fixed.
Design results
The design results section brings the output together: the project details and the ceiling type, the ceiling geometry and loads to SI 412 and SI 5103 §5.4, the supporting grid with its primary and secondary carriers, the hangers and top fixings with the anchor check to EN 1992-4, the perimeter connection, the earthquake check to SI 413, the wind check to SI 414, and the edge fittings, the fire and the acoustics.
Scope
This software applies to construction in Israel only. It is written to the Israeli standards SI 5103 and SI 1924, and the calculator interface itself is in Hebrew.