Advances in Construction Technologies Higher Grades of Concrete & Steel

S.A.Reddi reddibharathi@rediffmail.com
Mumbai 16 Feb 07

Glorious History of Indian Construction

The Taj Mahal, 1632-1648 ( Masonry ) Gateway of India, 1920 ( Reinforced Concrete )

Structure Slipformed for cost-effectiveness, speed

-Derna,

Baida Silos Libya (1985)

Vidyasagar Setu, Kolkata (1992)

I-Flex Head Quarters, Bangalore 2002 Cable Stayed Building

Burj Dubai Worlds tallest building under construction (Nov 2006)

Empire State Building Height -381 m (1931)

Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Ht-451 m (1996)

Shift from Structural Steel to Concrete

Emerging Trends in Concrete Technologies

From 1:2:4 nominal mix to design mix

- high slump upto 200 mm - self compacting concrete - slip-form concrete - pumped concrete - underwater concrete - fiber Reinforced concrete - lightweight concrete - heavy concrete - ultra high strength Conc up to 200 MPa

Emerging Trends in Concrete Technologies Development of Constituent Materials

Variety of OPC and blended cements; Eurocode have 27 products in family of common cements Mineral admixtures - pre-blended in cement factories or - mixed in the batching plants at site Use of silica fume has generated High Performance / High Strength Concrete Developments in chemical admixtures resulted in flowing concrete, self compacting concrete

Emerging Trends in Concrete Technologies Variety of Concrete Equipment

Phenomenal advances in construction equipment From traditional mixes,10x7 mixers and manual placement, we have moved to - computer controlled batching plants - truck mixers, belt conveyors - placement by concrete pumps, tower cranes - high frequency vibration - laser controlled screed finish - sprayed curing compounds

High Rise Buildings - 2 Days Per Floor Structural System

Floors made of RC / PSC flat slab. Ceilings beamfree & smooth; results in lower overall height. Concrete preferred even for high rise buildings after 9/11collapse of WTC in New York. Concrete offers structural robustness & fire resistance. Structural steel must be protected with fire proofing materials, but during construction and subsequently some of the fire proofing material is knocked off

High Rise Buildings - 2 Days Per Floor Construction Cycle

Used in U.S since 1950. Success depends on proper planning; Pre-assembled form panels for shear walls, lift shaft space & stair wells. Formwork provided for two floors Column forms, rebar cages pre-fabricated Concreting by crane with 2 buckets. One is lifted while the other is being filled. 40-60 m3 of conc / hr Requires organized efforts of labour, assembling forms & steel reinforcement & at placement deck

Two Days Per Floor Construction Cycle

Day 1: 0700-1200 : Concrete the floor (50 MPa). 1030-1230 : Lay-out columns & walls; Lift column forms, timber & plywood & erect for floor above 1400 hrs :Floors finished; concrete staircase for lower floors; complete formwork for next floor deck & columns. Work closed for the day Day 2: 7.00 a.m : Start fixing rebar cages 12.00 - 15.30 : Column concreting with 60 MPa; fix floor form work & reinforcement, ready for concreting next day morning Work closed

Tallest Building in Hong Kong 430 m

Foundation Excavated to Rock, -32 m below ground level

Top of Basement conc-steel Mega cols

28

29

30

31

32

TOWER CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

6/F 4/F 3/F 2/F 1/F

Cycle 1 (30-12-00) Cycle 2 (08-01-01)
(18-11-00) - C2

All B1 Mega Column Completed on 14-11-2000 All B2 Mega Column Completed on 10-11-2000 All B3M Mega Column Completed on 30-10-2000 All B3 Mega Column Completed on 26-10-2000
(21-11-00) -S1a (29-11-00) - S1b

G LG

(10-11-00) - C1

Cycle 1 (02-11-00)
(28-11-00) - S2b (24-11-00) - S2a (16-10-00) - C1

Cycle 2 (10-11-00)
(27-10-00) - C2

B1
B2
(04-11-00) -C2

Cycle 1 (05-10-00)
(21-09-00) - C1

Cycle 2 (18-10-00)
(02-10-00) - C2

All B4 Mega Column Completed on 19-10-2000 All B5 Mega Column Completed on 30-092000 All Mass Filling Completed on 10-08-2000 All Mega Column Plinth Completed on 14-06-2000 Raft Foundation Completed on 25-03-2000

Cycle 1 (10-09-00)
(27-08-00) - C1

Cycle 2 (25-09-00)
(05-09-00) - C2 (28-10-00) -C1

B3M B3 B4

Cycle 1 (20-08-00)
(13-08-00) - C1

Cycle 2 (28-08-00)
(19-08-00) - C2

Cycle 1 (07-08-00)
(27-07-00) - C1

Cycle 2 (14-08-00)
(06-08-00) - C2

Cycle 1 (20-07-00)
(12-10-00) -C2 (06-07-00) - C1 (13-07-00) - C2

Cycle 2 (29-07-00)
(17-07-00) - C3 (04-10-00) -C1

B5

Cycle 1 (26-06-00)
(11-09-00)

Cycle 2 (30-06-00)
(03-06-00)

Cycle 3 (09-07-00) Pour 2 (16-04-00)

(22-09-00)

Pour 1 (30-04-00)

Fast track construction

Twin Towers, Brussels
28 floors+4 basement Total office area - 150000 sqm. (height 102 m) 28 floors built in just 10 months ! High early concrete strength 15 MPa in 24 hrs Formwork cycle of 24 hrs due to use of HPC

Pre-cast Hollow core Units

Used for floors up to 15 m spans, eliminates floor beams

Widely used in advanced countries, not popular in India

Hollow core units prefabricated at the site were used for the IT Park building at Bangalore No factories in India for hollow core units

Lifting Sling for hoisting precast staircases

Precast Staircases

Public Housing in Singapore

800,000 prefab housing units since 1960 Highly buildable designs for ease of construction, modular co-ordination, standardised elements One floor completed by 6 workers in one day in contrast to 12 workers x 5 days conventionally Prefabricated reinforcement for all components Computerisation of structural detailing Prefabricated bathrooms, built-in accessories Premixed dry mortar powder pneumatically conveyed upto 35 storeys, mixed for plaster etc

Skeletal Frame for precast construction

Precast Columns
Columns may be erected in one piece, i.e. without mechanical splicing, up to 20 m in length Practical and economical limit is 12 to 13 m Column sizes in braced structures approximated by assuming c/s area (mm2) is equal to maximum ultimate axial load (N) divided by 28 Design of the column makes due allowance for finishes in computing a net cross section

Building construction without Formwork

Precast concrete panel 50 mm thk with integrated structural reinforcement and special lattice girders form permanent formwork Double precast concrete panel for walls

Reinforcement Steel

Properties of Reinforcing Steel

Ductility to bend precisely to fit complicated shapes & without loss of cover; ductility prevents sudden failure Minimum strength for load bearing; weldability for site fabrication Good bonding and fatigue properties Accurate cutting & bending for proper fit on site & to maintain lap & anchorage lengths & cover

Bar Bending Options

Manual

Machine
Bending stacks of bars

Lapped bars can create problems

Concrete must be placed. Where bars are lapped check their thickness and spacing

Mechanical Splicing Avoids Laps

IS 1786 Specification for HSD bars

Important Modification in 4th Revision (2007)
A new ductile category D introduced for seismic & other applications requiring enhanced ductility Diameter rationalized; 7,18,22,45 & 50 mm deleted Strength grades : Fe 415, Fe 415D Fe 500, Fe 500D Fe 550, Fe 550D Fe 600 ( New strength grade )

IS 1786 Reinforcement Steel Indian Practice

Code allows 4 grades : Fe 415, Fe 500, Fe 550,Fe 600

Consultants specify only Fe 415 leading to congestion of reinforcement in many structures

Fe 415 already obsolete in developed world. Min grade as per Euro Code is Fe 500 Designers specify odd sizes creating difficulties during execution due to non-availability 20 and 22 mm dia or 18 and 20 mm dia are not visually distinguishable, leading to mistakes

Recommended Reinforcement Bar Dia

European practice recommends8,10,12,16,20,25, 32,40,50 mm diameter Bars distinguishable with naked eyes Each bar dia approx. sum of two preceding bar dia, facilitating combinations

40
25 16 10

32
20 12

08

Reinforcement Information and Supply

New computer software called Steel-pac allows fabricators to receive schedules directly from

designers, improving the planning process,

optimizing material use and reducing waste

These system need to be fully exploited

Centralised Bar Bending Standard Practice in Dubai,UK

Cut and bent bars provided as per design by bar manufacturers or third parties in developed world Wastage of steel reduced. Better quality. Application of IT simplifies production. Structural designer/detailer electronically transmit BBS to bending machines of manufacturer for further processing reinforcement.

Need for High Strength Reinforcement Bars

Reduce congestion of

reinforcement
Avoid large diameter

reinforcement
Utilize permissible

higher stress
Align with

International practice

Structural Steel

Structural Steel

Max. depth of RSJ 600 1100 mm Max. flange thickness 23.60 125 Max. width of flange 250 454 Parallel flange section No Yes Less welding & constn time with deep sections

India

Europe

40 m span at JNPT, with 1100 mm sections

Composite construction

Reinforcement surrounding steel column

World tallest Building Taipei Financial Centre Corporation

Column sizes: 3 m x 2.4 m, 8 cm thk steel used

Design loads: 38000 t

Heavy steel reinforcement, 85 MPa concrete surrounding structural steel columns 106000 t structural steel. Grade 60 reinforcement, 25% stronger than std, made using thermo-mechanical control process for lower carbon, higher weldability. Column erection started-Jun00, completed Jul02.

Composite Joists
Thickness of composite deck 50mm Conc. poured 115mm Less const. time Less expensive

Hollow Box Section

Suitable for versatile construction; for fabrication of formwork and other enabling structures In the absence of larger sections, conventional rolled steel products used, increasing the tonnage and cost of construction

Euro Code 3 - Classification

Circular hollow sections : outside diameter : between 21.3 & 508 mm thickness : between 3.2 & 50 mm mass per meter : 1.43 kg to 565 kg Square hollow sections : size : 20 x 20 mm to 400 x 400 mm thickness : 2 mm to 20 mm Rectangular hollow sections : size : 50 x 25 mm to 500 x 300 mm

Hollow Steel Sections European / Indian availability

CORUS U.K. can supply Circular sizes up to 508 OD x 16 thk Larger circular sizes up to 2134 mm dia Square sizes up to 400 x 400 x 16 Rectangular sizes up to 500 x 300 x 20 Oval sizes : up to 500x250x60 mm Indian supplies are limited to 132 x 132 (square) and 172 x 92 (rectangular); smaller sections limit the scope for application

Concrete & Steel Practices A Comparison

Concrete construction moved from nominal site mixes to design mixes supplied by RMC plants Reinf & structural steel practices should follow Minimum Fe 500 grade bars should be cut & bent in factories; contractors should order ready to use cages (common in rest of the world) Structural steel of higher grades & deeper rolled sections should be introduced

Any comments, queries, suggestions are welcome

Please contact at

reddibharathi@rediffmail.com