Types of Construction | Building Construction and Design
Posted by BenzuJK in Building Construction on December 20, 2011
Building Construction | Civil Engineering and Design
Construction of buildings can be divided into three main categories:
- Load bearing construction
- Composite construction
- Framed construction
But among the three types, framed construction is widely used for all kinds of constructions.
An engineering structure is an assembly of number of elements transferring the loads and providing a form space to serve the desired function.
Building Construction and Design
The structural design is a science and art of designing, with economy and elegance, a durable structure is that which can safely carry the forces and can serve the desired function satisfactorily during its expected service life span.
The entire process of structural planning and designing requires not only imagination and conceptual thinking but of practical aspects, such as relevant design codes and byelaws, backed up by aple experience, institution and judgement.
The process of design commences with planning of a structure, primarily to meet the functional equipment of the user or client. The functional requirements and the aspects of the aesthetics looked into normally by an architect while the aspect of safety, serviceability, durability and economy of the structure for its intended use over the life span.
What is a building?
A building can be defined as a structure consisting of walls, floors, education, business, manufacturing, storage, hospitalization, entertainment, worship etc.
Normally all building are constructed according to drawings and specifications prepared by architects. Each city has prescribed building bye-laws to which building must confirm. The building bye-laws lay down norms like minimum front, side and rear backs, minimum height and area of habitable rooms, kitchen, bath, minimum area of windows, width of staircase etc, apart from respecting the bye-laws the building design should ensure optimum utilization of built-up space, thermal comfort, proper ventilation, desirable illumination and acoustical characteristics and it should satisfy the functional requirements of people who live and work in the building.
Causes of Foundation Damage and Retrofitting | Settlement in the ground
Posted by BenzuJK in Building Construction on December 16, 2011
Causes of Foundation damage and Retrofitting
In one of my previous articles, we discussed various steps in which the survey of the foundation has to be done in order to be considered for retrofitting.
In this article, we will discuss various reasons or causes for the damage of the foundations.
Types of foundation damage can be classified as follows:
Erosion
Settlement in the ground
- Groundwater lowering
- Limited bearing capacity of the ground (land)
- Uneven bedrock depth
- Excavations performed below the foundations and poor quality of backfill
- Increased load on the ground leading to failure
- Damage to the neighbouring houses
- Horizontal movement occurring in the ground
Frost heave/adfreezing
Alum shale
Now we will move on with the discussion in detail on the types of foundation damage occurring due to Settlement in the ground.
Lowering in the Groundwater level
When the buildings are built on compressible soils, the resulting stress on the soil causes the soil to compress. Raft foundations are used in these kind of soils.
Since the soil undergoes compression the upper portion of wooden piles rot when groundwater level sinks.
There are various conditions which can cause the changes in the groundwater level or pore water pressure. They are as follows:
- Ice Static Rebound
- Dewatering (seen in cities)
- Ditches and pipes below the groundwater level
- Deep Foundations and Basements (causing further drainage of the ground
- Tunnelling
- By the removal of foundation sills
- Construction of non-permeable surfaces such as roads, pathways causing the least amount of natural precipitation
- Use of deciduous trees should be avoided in areas with low groundwater. They require a lot of water for their growth. They pull all the water that is available around them causing the lowering of groundwater.
Building Materials | Use of Carbon-negative Cement in Building Construction
Posted by BenzuJK in Building Construction on December 13, 2011
Carbon-negative cement | New revolutionary Building material
Carbon-negative cement…?? Sound different, doesn’t it?
Have you ever realized how much carbon is emitted because of using concrete in the construction of buildings, highways, dams, bridges etc?
Well, here’s an answer to that. It is found that out of the 100% carbon dioxide emissions, 5% of the emissions are caused by human activities. Majority of the carbon emission is caused by usage of concrete in the constructions. How? Cement is an indispensible ingredient used for making concrete. Cement is made by baking limestone and clay powders under intense temperatures (high temperature). The intense heat which is required for the production of cement is achieved by burning of fossil fuels which in turn release large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Building Construction | We can just imagine to what extent the carbon dioxide would be released into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide is also released when the conversion of limestone takes place in the kilns. This conversion is called “Calcination”. It has been observed that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during calcination is much higher than that which is released due to burning of fossil fuels.
Recently, a British company called “Novacem” came up with this concept of manufacturing ‘carbon-negative’ cement that absorbs more carbon-dioxide than it emits over its entire life cycle.
Secondary lighting systems | Lighting Techniques
Lighting systems | Illumination Techniques
Lighting Systems comprises of two main systems:
Both of these lighting systems are to be integrated together in designing the lighting for any space.
Earlier, we discussed “Primary Lighting Systems”. Now we will move on with the discussion on Secondary Lighting Systems.
Shadow effect achieved with the help of wall mounted Light. Effects of Lighting could be really amazing...!
Secondary Lighting Systems
1. Accent lighting- 15 times more than task lighting
2. Effect lighting- no functional value
3. Decorative lighting
4. Architectural lighting
5. Mood lighting
Calculations for Overhead Water tank | Building Construction
Posted by BenzuJK in Building Construction on November 6, 2011
Design of Overhead Water Tank | Design of RCC Structures
As per NBC (National Building Code, 2005) standards,
Water required per person per day = 150 litres
Drinking water = 4litres per person per day
Calculation for an overhead water tank for a 3 BHK Villa:
Let us assume the average family size = 5 persons in the house
Water required for daily chores per person per day as per NBC norms;
150 x 5 = 750 litres
Drinking water required:
4 x 5 = 20 litres
Total quantity of water required = 750+20 = 770 litres
Volume of water = 770/1000 = 0.77 cubic metres