Keith/Josh
What killed the engineering for me on these was the lateral. The ones I looked at had good columns at the corners but relied on that heavy gage corrugated siding for lateral restraint, and heavy gage corrugated siding just ain't in the code for shearwalls. Also, as I recall, the corrugated sidewalls also have to provide for vertical shear in the vertical bending of the side walls from gravity loads. I guess if that material was in the Steel Deck Design Manual it would work.
Correct, but rather than rely upon a chart that tells me what the properties of a specific metal is, I can instead use the strength of the metal itself, which is readily available, provided you can determine the grade of the steel.
Applying lateral loads to corrigated (if the corrigation is vertical) is probably not a smart thing to do. You can however, use the calculation of a sheathing applied to both the interior and exterior of the structure to justify the shear values needed to comply with codes. With the roof and floor, obviously you would need to determine the attachment method, downloads, uplifts and lateral loads placed upon the structure. That isn't impossible to do, just so long as you have the proper values.
Incidently, way back in 1977, the US Army conducted engineering tests on a variety of shipping containers for use as mobile buildings, temporary housing, along with other unique uses. They issued a report that the shipping containers as a structure exceed all structural requirements, including the heaviest snow loads, and could be placed anywhere in the world without adverse effect.
I know codes change and we learn more ... but there are many engineering and architectural firms now using containers as housing.
As far as insulation is concerned, I was reading where some company has developed an R90 insulation that fits in 4 inches. I can imagine that it isn't cheap though.