Drive-in steel storage racks represent a popular alternative to the more common selective rackswhen available space is restricted or when storing the same good. In drive-in racks, the forklift truck drives intothe rack and stores the pallets on beam rails on the “first-in last-out” principle. Recent experimental studies haveshown that by acting as horizontal ties between uprights, pallets significantly influence the structural behaviourof the rack. However, due to the uncertainty in the degree of friction between the rail beams and the pallets,current industry design practice does not consider this effect. This paper quantifies the influence of the pallets onthe bending moment distribution in the uprights using a 3D finite element model calibrated against experimentalresults on a full scale drive-in rack. Additionally, as 3D models may be computationally intensive when a largenumber of analyses are required, this paper presents an improved version of the 2D model of drive-in racksintroduced by Godley. In the improved 2D model, all possible loading scenarios and the influence of pallets onthe structural behaviour of the rack are considered. When compared to advanced 3D finite element analyses,the model is able to accurately reproduce the bending moment distribution in the upright, with and without thepresence of pallets.
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