ECO-SUSTAINABLE QUALITY AND CERTIFICATIONS
In addition to meeting the requirements of this Ministerial Decree, all modular structures and covers comply with the relevant national standards and the Eurocodes (EC), the European structural design regulations, which allow the professional to use common calculation criteria also approved abroad.
- EN 1991 : Eurocode 1 – Actions on structures
- EN 1993 : Eurocode 3 – Design of steel structures
- EN 1999 : Eurocode 9 – Design of aluminium structures
- UNI EN 13782 : Temporary Structures – Tents
Cover Technology manufactures its profiles from special structural aluminium alloys for improved, guaranteed outstanding physical and mechanical characteristics.
Why aluminium?
- Tough: The possibility of using special structural aluminium alloys and the capability for designing and producing new profiles enable us to create structures that can withstand heavy wind and snow loads.
- Lightweight: Although aluminium is as strong as steel, its specific gravity is three times lighter.
- Versatile: The capability for designing profiles with different shapes and geometries enables us to construct any kind of structure, even of considerable size
- Recyclable: Aluminium can be reused an infinite number of times, since it is 100% recyclable. Cover Technology implements an environmental management system compliant with the ISO 14001:2004 Standard, which encourages the use of sustainable materials
- Reliable: The production process is extremely reliable and compliant with international STANDARDS.
- Lifetime: Thanks to their physical and mechanical characteristics and their corrosion-resistance, Cover Technology profiles can be considered “everlasting”
- Corrosion: Unlike steel, wood and composites (FRP), aluminium has excellent corrosion resistance, which allows the structure’s physical and mechanical characteristics to be retained unchanged over time. In aggressive environments, in order to increase the level of corrosion resistance, structural aluminium alloy components undergo an electrochemical anodic oxidation process, which forms a protective oxide coating on the surface of the treated material, protecting it from corrosion. This treatment also allows the creation of bespoke colours.
- Maintenance: Not necessary. Maintenance is extremely simple and only involves ordinary cleaning of the aluminium components. No painting or additional surface treatments are required over the years
Cover Technology profiles carry the CE marking
During production and transformation, Cover Technology profiles undergo repeated production checks. Strict tests are performed on samples taken during production to ensure their quality and compliance with the EN 15088:2005 and EN 1090-1:2009 harmonised European standards.
Only compliance with these regulations allows the design, production and installation of structures in compliance with Italian Ministerial Decree of 17/01/2018 containing “Technical Standards” for Constructions.
COVER CARBON
During the last few years, Cover Technology has undertaken research and development work to test the efficiency of the combination of carbon fibre reinforcements with extruded aluminium alloy profiles. This research has led to the development of an innovative construction technology called “Cover Carbon” which can be applied to every model of outdoor cover and tensile structure.
Several different aluminium and carbon fibre combinations were evaluated during the design phases. The subsequent test phases provided interesting feedback on the right strategy for producing elements with the greatest safety and the lightest weight.
Cover Technology produces its “Cover Carbon” system structures on the following principles:
- A stronger aluminium alloy profile, thanks to an alloy with better mechanical characteristics;
- A localised carbon fibre structural reinforcement guarantees more stability in the zones under greatest stress;
- More effective gluing thanks to the use of structural adhesives (difficult to use with reinforcements inside hollow profiles)
- Lower risk of attracting lightning and of electrical conduction, since high-risk carbon fibres are used discontinuously
The use of this technology delivers a reduction in:
- The overall weight of the structure
- Storage volumes
COVER STEEL
Cover Technology also uses carbon steel sheet and extremely high strength structural steel profiles for the construction of its tensile structures and modular covers.
In order to achieve environmental management in compliance with the ISO 14001:2004 standard, Cover Technology has adopted a protective process for steel components, which significantly increases their high resistance to corrosion.
This is a combination of a hot-dip galvanisation process and a synthetic film coating process, with a series of special intermediate surface treatments that prepare the surface of the steel components for perfect reception of the protective coating.
This system also allows the steel components to be personalised, colouring them (wide range of colours available) to match the context of the building and the surrounding environment.