For the town in Armenia, see Kard, Armenia

Kard, Armenia

Kard is a village in the rural community of Geghi, Syunik Province, Armenia. The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia reported it was uninhabited at the 2001 census....

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In architecture

Architecture

Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

 or structural engineering

Structural engineering

Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....

, a girt is a horizontal structural member in a framed wall

Wall

A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...

. Girts provide lateral support to the wall panel, primarily, to resist winds loads.

May also be known as a sheeting rail.

A comparable element in roof construction is a purlin

Purlin

In architecture or structural engineering or building, a purlin is a horizontal structural member in a roof. Purlins support the loads from the roof deck or sheathing and are supported by the principal rafters and/or the building walls, steel beams etc...

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Stability in steel building construction

The girt is commonly used as a stabilizing element to the primary structure (e.g. column, post). Wall cladding fastened to the girt, or a discrete bracing system which includes the girt, can provide shear resistance, in the plane of the wall, along the length of the primary member. Since the girts are normally fastened to, or near, the exterior flange of a column, stability braces may be installed at a girt to resist rotation of the unsupported, inner flange of the primary member. The girt system must be competent and adequately stiff to provide the required stabilizing resistance in addition to its role as a wall panel support.

Girts are stabilized by (sag) rods/angles/straps and by the wall cladding. Stabilizing rods are discrete brace members to prevent rotation of an unsupported flange of the girt. Sheet metal wall panels are usually considered to provide lateral bracing to the connected, typically exterior flange along the length of the girt. Under restricted circumstances, sheet metal wall panels are also capable of providing rotational restraint to the girt section.

In general: Girt supports panel, panel stabilizes girt; Column supports girt, girt stabilizes column. The building designer should be knowledgeable in the complexities of this interactive design condition to ensure competent design of the complete structure.