CIVL5458:

ASSIGNMENT 3
GROUP 24:
DATE: 14 -4 -2017

Kim Hien Le 440506838

Yimin Li 440108481
Weichi Zhu 440077394
Shicheng Lu 440509552
QUESTION 1: Calculate the weight of the entire floor

Since the floor is entirely made up of concrete, the weight can be calculated by the mass
equation 𝐺 = 𝜌𝑉𝑔 where 𝜌 = 2400𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 , 𝑔 = 9.8𝑁/𝑘𝑔

1. The volume of the balconies:

𝑉 = 𝑏𝑑ℎ = 13.5𝑚 × 4𝑚 × 0.2𝑚(𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑦) = 10.8𝑚3
There are two balconies on each floor with same size, so the total volume is twice of
this value: 𝑉𝑡 = 2𝑉 = 10.8 × 2 = 𝟐𝟏. 𝟔𝒎𝟑

2. The volume of the slab:

The volume of the slab equals to the rectangular plan size minus the size of two life
core.
Side length of the life core equals to 3.25m
𝑉 = 𝑏𝑑ℎ − 2 × 𝑑2 ℎ = 39.5 × 26.5 × 0.2 − 2 × 3.252 × 0.2 = 𝟐𝟎𝟓. 𝟏𝟐𝟓𝒎𝟑

3. The volume of the life core wall

Wall volume consist of four walls with 200mm thick, edge length 3.25m and 3.5m in
height and minus the overlap area between the walls. We have 2 lift cores.
𝑉 = 2 × (4𝑏𝑑 − 4𝑑2 ) × ℎ = 2 × (4 × 3.25 × 0.2 − 4 × 0.2 × 0.2) × 3.5 = 𝟏𝟕. 𝟎𝟖𝒎𝟑

4. The volume of the column

Since we know the column section size, the height of it could be measured by minus
the slab and beam thickness from the floor height. Slab thickness is 200mm, beam
thickness is (500 – 200)mm. 35 columns in total
𝑉 = 𝑏𝑑ℎ = 0.35 × 0.35 × (3.5 − 0.2 − 0.3) = 0.3675𝑚3
𝑉𝑡 = 35𝑉 = 35 × 0.3675 = 𝟏𝟐. 𝟖𝟔𝟑𝒎𝟑

5. The volume of the beam

This floor is a two-way slab, five full length beam in horizontal and seven full length
beam in vertical in the floor plan. Volume of the beam could be calculated by adding
up the total length of the beam minus the overlap part. 0.35𝑚 × (0.5 − 0.2)𝑚 is the
beam section size as 0.2m has already included in the lab’s volume. Each overlap part
volume is
𝑉𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑝 = 0.35 × 0.35 × 0.5 = 0.06125𝑚3
Total overlap volume is
𝑉𝑡 = (5 × 7) × 0.06125 = 2.144𝑚3
The volume of the beam equals
𝑉 = 0.35 × (0.5 − 0.3) × (39.5 × 5 + 26.5 × 7) = 40.215𝑚3
 The actual volume of the beam equals to
𝑉𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 = 40.215 − 2.144 = 𝟑𝟖. 𝟎𝟕𝟏𝒎𝟑

6. The weight of the entire floor

The total volume of the entire floor concrete is
𝑉 = 21.6 + 205.125 + 17.08 + 12.863 + 38.071 = 294.74𝑚3
The weight of the entire floor equals to
2400𝑘𝑔 3
9.8𝑘𝑔
𝐺 = 𝜌𝑉𝑔 = × 286.2𝑚 × = 𝟔𝟗𝟑𝟐𝒌𝑵
𝑚3 𝑁

Note:
From Strand7, the direct summation of node reaction forces at FZ obtained is 6872
kN (this number represents the weight of the entire slab calculated by the software).
From the hand calculation above, the weight was found to be 6932 kN, 0.96%
difference from Strand7 result due to rounding-off errors.
QUESTION 2:
Produce contour plots with the vertical deflection of the floor and compare the
deflection to the analytical equations available:

From Strand7, a contour plot with vertical deflection of the floor is shown in figure 2 below:
A

A
Figure 2.1: Vertical Displacement Contour Plot
A vertical Displacement vs Position was plotted through the section AA in figure 2.1:

Figure 2.2: Vertical Displacement through section AA

From the graph, critical vertical displacement points were collected. (refer to figure
2.1)
 Deflection at the tip of the balcony (A) = 30.8 mm
 Deflection at the root of the balcony (B) = 4.82 mm
 Deflection at the middle of the slab nearer to the balcony (C) = 0.65 mm
 Deflection at the middle of the slab nearer to the centre (D) = 3.49 mm

From the available analytical method

The deflection at the middle of the slab can be calculated by the formula
𝑞𝑎4
𝑤𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝛼
𝐷
Where
𝐸𝑡 3 25000 × 0.23
𝐷= = = 17.36
12(1 − 𝑣 2 ) 12(1 − 0.22 )

And α = 0.00416 for simply supported and 0.00126 for fully supported.

Self-weight of the slab

𝐺 = 2.4 × 9.81 × 0.5 = 4.7𝑘𝑃𝑎
𝑞 = 𝐺 + 𝑄 = 3 + 4.7 = 7.7𝑘𝑃𝑎
The deflection for simply supported is
7.7 × 6.184
𝑤𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.00416 × = 2.69𝑚𝑚
17.36
The deflection for fully supported is
7.7 × 6.184
𝑤𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.00126 × = 0.815𝑚𝑚
17.36

Deflection at the tip of the cantilever

The deflection at the tip of the cantilever can be calculated by the formula
𝑤𝑙 4
𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
8𝐸𝐼
Where
𝑤 = 𝐺 + 𝑄′ = 15.7𝑘𝑁
1 × 0.253
𝐼= = 0.0013
12
Therefore
15.7 × 44
𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑥 = = 0.0155𝑚
8 × 25000 × 0.0013

Hence we have:
 Deflection at the tip of the balcony (A) = 15.5 mm
 Deflection at the root of the balcony (B) = 0 mm
 Deflection at the middle of the slab nearer to the balcony (C) = 0.815 mm
 Deflection at the middle of the slab nearer to the centre (D) = 2.69 mm

A table summary of the vertical deflection obtained from both methods is shown
below:

Vertical Deflection at Strand7 (mm) Analytical Method (mm)

A 30.8 15.5
B 4.82 0
C 0.65 0.815
D 3.49 2.69

The vertical displacement at the tip of the balcony obtained from analytical method
is only half of the one obtained from Strand7. This is due to the assumption made for
the analytical method that the balcony acts as a cantilever and the root of the
cantilever is fixed with zero displacement, while in reality the root of the balcony
deflects a significant amount.
Displacements at the mid-span are very close from both methods.

QUESTION 3:
Produce the contour plots with the stresses σxx and σyy at the top and the bottom of
the slabs:

The contour plots with the stresses σxx and σyy at the top and the bottom of the
slabs are presented in figure 3.1 – 4 below:

Figure 3.1: Stress-xx at the top of the slab

Figure 3.2: Stress-xx at the bottom of the slab

Figure 3.3: Stress-yy at the top of the slab

 Figure 3.4: Stress-yy at the bottom of the slab

Base on the Contour Stress plots, a summary table with the maximum stresses σxx
and σyy at the top and the bottom of the slabs is shown below:

Maximum Stresses Compression Tension (MPa)

(MPa)
σxx - top 7.895
σxx - bottom -7.895
σyy - top 15.77
σyy - bottom -15.77
Max C/T -15.77 15.77
QUESTION 4:
Discuss on the suitability of the material for the structure. Take into account
compressive and tensile strength:

Assuming the concrete used for the slab has Young Modulus of 26.7 GPa. According to
AS3600-2009 (table 3.2.1), it can be deduced that
- The compressive strength of the concrete (fc) is approximately 25 MPa
- The tensile strength can be calculated using the formula:
fct = 0.6 x (0.6 x √fc) = 0.6 x 0.6 x √25 = 1.8 MPa

From the stresses obtained from Strand7

- The maximum compression stress is approximately 15.77 MPa. This stress is
smaller than the compressive strength of the concrete, hence this is OKAY.
- The maximum tensile stress is 15.77 MPa which is significantly larger than the
tensile strength of the concrete (1.8 MPa) hence the material will experience
severe cracking

Solution
- Most tensile stresses concentrate at the root of the balconies and the
horizontal beams. As a result, steel reinforcements need to be installed at
these high tensile stress areas so the structure can effectively resist the
applied loads.

QUESTION 5:
Discuss on the numerical errors and present strategies to solve these errors

Possible errors involved in this numerical method involve:

- The structure is modelled based on certain assumptions, which are not
necessarily the case in the real world as minor aspects that could affect the
stresses on the structure are neglected
- The model is divided into multiple plates and nodes for analysis. This allows
the program to approximates the stresses if the plates are too big.

To improve accuracy, the model could be divided into as many plates as possible.
However this will result in slower running time or lagging of the program.