Precast and Prefabricated Structure

PREFABRICATION CONSTRUCTION IS WELL ESTABLISHED AS

ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTION METHODS IN
EUROPE.

Prefabrication is the practice of casting components

of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing
site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-
assemblies to the construction site where the
structure is to be erected.

Need for Prefabrication

❖Structural efficiency
❖Cost Control
❖Optimum use of materials
❖Speed of construction
❖Quality consciousness
❖Adaptability
❖Protection of the environment
HOW AND WHERE PRECASTING IS USED

Reinforced concrete is a material usually used for structural systems due to its strength, durability, and
affordability. Precast concrete is used in the following ways:

•to make beams, columns, floor slabs, foundations, and other structural members for buildings

•to make wall or cladding panels for buildings

•to make precast pre-stressed elements for buildings

•to make components for infrastructure projects: elements such as bridge spans, or metro line viaducts
are often precast in a casting yard

•to make products for sale: precast water tanks, septic tanks, drainage chambers, railway sleepers,
floor beams, boundary walls, water pipes are all available

•Since it can be moulded into any shape, it can also be used to create one-off unusual forms such
as boats, sculptures
ELEMENTS IN PRECAST CONCRETE BUILDING SYSTEMS

Precast concrete members are manufactured in factory under

controlled conditions to keep standard dimensions and
tolerances. Structural elements used in the construction of
precast concrete buildings include:

• Precast concrete wall (Panels)

• Precast Slabs
• Precast Beam and Girders
• Precast Columns
• Precast Stairs
DIFFERENT PRECAST CONCRETE STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS
BEAMS
• Precast concrete beams can be reinforced with steel reinforcement and prestressed with steel strands.
• Beam profiles are usually inverted T-beams or L-
beams to support a precast concrete slab.
COLUMNS
• Precast columns are usually square, rectangular or
circular, although other shapes are possible. It is good
practice to apply 50 mm increments to the columns’
sides (or diameter).
• Circular columns are typically cast vertically, reaching
one-storey height. Square and rectangular columns
can be cast horizontally, allowing heights up to 24 m.
• The columns can have corbels or structural inserts to
provide support for beams.
HOLLOW CORE SLABS
• The cores help reduce the slab’s self-weight, optimize
the structural capacity, and provide room for service
ducts.
• Units are available in standard 1200 mm widths and
depths from 110 mm to 400 mm. Other dimensions
can be fabricated when required.
WALLS IN CONCRETE FRAME BUILDINGS
• Concrete frame structures are strong and economical. Hence almost any walling materials can be
used with them.
• The heavier options include masonry walls of brick, concrete block, or stone.
• The lighter options include drywall partitions made of light steel or wood studs covered with sheeting
boards.
• When brick or concrete blocks are used, it is common to plaster the entire surface - brick and
concrete - with a cement plaster to form a hard, long-lasting finish.
• Cross-wall is the most common form, where the panels can form structural load-bearing partition
walls, external walls and floor slabs.

CLADDING OF CONCRETE FRAME STRUCTURES

• Common cladding materials are glass, aluminum panels, stone sheets, and ceramic facades.
• Since these structures can be designed for heavy loading, one could even clad them in solid masonry
walls of brick or stone.
• Precast concrete cladding provides low-maintenance facades.
• The panels can include windows and insulations to reduce construction time on site. They are divided
into structurally load bearing and non-loadbearing.
• Load bearing cladding systems have an inner structural panel, an insulation layer and an outer non-
structural panel. The most common type is sandwich panels.
• Non-loadbearing cladding systems, like the single-leaf precast cladding, have no structural function.
• They provide the required architectural finish to the building, along with a weather barrier.
PRECAST CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERATIONS

1. Erection Sequence
• Precast concrete members shall be erected according to preplanned sequence.
• The erection plan is commonly prepared drawings if it is important for structural stability and for
access to connections at specific location.
• The erection sequence shall avoid multiple handling of elements.
• Finally, a trial erection operation should be considered to identify any unforeseen erection difficulties.

2. Erection Safety
• Safety during the handling and erection of precast concrete elements is substantially important.
• Therefore, all machines and equipment employed precast concrete element handling and erection
need to be maintained to a high standard, load tested, and be suited to the intended utilization.

3. Erection Tolerances
• Generally, the precast unit should be erected in accordance with the tolerances provided by
applicable codes, unless other tolerances are used in the design and specifications.
4. Rigging
• A rigging system for handling and erecting precast elements requires careful preplanning.
• It may be necessary to equalize loads between lifting points on certain precast elements, such as beams
or flat slabs.
• Lifting accessories may be in the form of slings/cables, hooks or shackles.
• The selection of such components should take into consideration the forces due to all operations
involved in the handling units.

5. Temporary bracing
• Precast concrete elements must be adequately braced and supported during all phases of erection to
ensure proper alignment and structural integrity until permanent structural connections are completed.

6. Leveling shims
• Leveling shims should be formed from a suitably durable material and should have adequate strength to
carry the full imposed loads.
• Leveling shims carry the full construction load of the precast element and must provide adequate
support to prevent movement until the element is incorporated in the main structure.

7. Propping
• All temporary propping requirements must be shown on the erection drawings.
• The design of temporary propping systems should be in accordance with applicable codes.
• Temporary propping should provide full support for all construction loads.
TYPES OF PRECAST SYSTEMS
Precast systems are classified on the basis of the load bearing structure:
1. Large Panel System
• Large panel systems are useful for the construction of apartments and hotels.
• It consists of large walls and floor concrete panels connected in the vertical and
horizontal directions.
• Both horizontal and vertical panels withstand gravity loads.
• There are three arrangements of large panel system based on wall layouts which
include cross-wall system, longitudinal-wall system, two-way system.
2. Frame System
• It is suitable for the construction of car parks, stadia, and offices.
• Precast frames can be constructed using either linear elements or spatial beam-
column sub assemblages.
• Precast beam-column sub-assemblages have the advantages as the connecting faces
between the sub-assemblages can be placed away from the critical frame regions.
• However linear elements are generally preferred because of the difficulties
associated with forming, handling and erecting spatial elements.
3. Slab-Column System with Shear Wall
• In this system, gravity loads supported by slab-column structure whereas shear walls
withstand lateral loads.
• There are two types of slab-column system with shear walls namely; lift slab system
with walls and pre-stressed slab-column system.
CONCRETE FRAME STRUCTURES

• As the name suggests, this type of building consists of a frame or skeleton of concrete.
• Horizontal members of this frame are called beams, and vertical members are called columns.
• Humans walk on flat planes of concrete called slabs. Of these, the column is the most important, as it is
the primary load-carrying element of the building . If you damage a beam or slab in a building, this will
affect only one floor, but damage to a column could bring down the entire building.
• Concrete in the building trade refers to reinforced concrete. It is reinforced cement concrete, or
RCC. RCC is concrete that contains steel bars, called reinforcement bars, or rebars.
• This combination works very well, as concrete is very strong in compression, easy to produce at site,
and inexpensive, and steel is very strong in tension.
• To make reinforced concrete, one first makes a mould, called formwork, that will contain the liquid
concrete and give it the form and shape we need.
• Then one looks at the structural engineer's drawings and places in the steel reinforcement bars and ties
them in place using wire. The tied steel is called a reinforcement cage.
• ​Once the steel is in place, one can start to prepare the concrete, by mixing cement, sand, stone chips in
a range of sizes, and water in a cement mixer, and pouring in the liquid concrete into the formwork till
exactly the right level is reached.
• The concrete will become hard in a matter of hours but takes a month to reach its full
strength. Therefore, it is usually propped up until that period. During this time, the concrete must
be cured, or supplied with water on its surface, which it needs for the chemical reactions within to
proceed properly.
 • Working out the exact proportions of each ingredient is a science. It is called concrete mix design.
• A good mix designer will start with the properties that are desired in the mix, then take many factors
into account, and work out a detailed mix design.
• A site engineer will often order a different type of mix for a different purpose.
• For example, if he is casting a thin concrete wall in a hard-to-reach area, he will ask for a mix that is
more flowable than stiff.
• This will allow the liquid concrete to flow by gravity into every corner of the formwork.
• ​So, the structure is a connected frame of members, each of which are firmly connected to each other.
• In engineering parlance, these connections are called moment connections, which means that the two
members are firmly connected to each other.
• There are other types of connections, including hinged connections, which are used in steel structures.
• Shear Walls are important structural elements in high-rise buildings and could easily measure 400mm
thick by 3m long - making them appear like walls rather than columns.
• Their function in a building is to take care of horizontal forces on buildings like wind and earthquake
loads. Normally, buildings are subject to vertical loads - gravity. Shear walls also carry vertical loads. It is
important to understand that they only work for horizontal loads in one direction - the axis of the long
dimension of the wall. These are usually not required in low-rise structures.
• Elevator Shafts are vertical boxes in which the elevators move up and down - normally each elevator is
enclosed in its own concrete box. These shafts are also very good structural elements, helping to resist
horizontal loads, and carrying vertical loads.
The concrete frame rests on foundations, which transfer the forces - from the building and on the building -
to the ground.
STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES

• An important feature of steel framing is its flexibility.

• It can bend without cracking, which is another great advantage, as a steel building can flex when it
is pushed to one side by say, wind, or an earthquake.

• Another characteristic of steel is its plasticity or ductility.

• This property allows steel buildings to bend out of shape, or deform, thus giving warning to
inhabitants to escape. Failure in steel frames is not sudden - a steel structure rarely collapses.

• However, one important property of steel is that it quickly loses its strength in a fire. At 500
degrees celsius (930 degrees F), mild steel can lose almost half its strength. This is what happened
at the collapse of the World Trade Towers in 2001.

• Therefore, steel in buildings must be protected from fire or high temperature; this is usually done
by wrapping it with boards or spray-on material called fire protection.
 WHERE STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES ARE USED
Steel construction is most often used in

• High rise buildings because of its strength, low weight, and speed
of construction
• Industrial buildings because of its ability to create large span
spaces at low cost
• Warehouse buildings for the same reason
• Residential buildings in a technique called light gauge steel
construction
• Temporary Structures as these are quick to set up and remove

TYPES OF STEEL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Steel construction is also called steel fabrication.

CONVENTIONAL STEEL FABRICATION

• It is when teams of steel fabricators cut members of steel to the correct lengths, and then weld them
together to make the final structure.
• This can be done entirely at the construction site, which is labor-intensive, or partially in a workshop, to
provide better working conditions and reduce time.
BOLTED STEEL CONSTRUCTION

• Occurs when steel fabricators produce finished and painted steel components, which are then shipped
to the site and simply bolted in place.
• This is the preferred method of steel construction, as the bulk of the fabrication can be done in
workshops, with the right machinery, lighting, and work conditions.
• The size of the components are governed by the size of the truck or trailer they are shipped in, usually
with a max length of 6m (20ft) for normal trucks or 12m (40ft) for long trailers.
• Since the only work to be done at site is lifting the steel members into place (with cranes) and bolting,
the work at site is tremendously fast.
• Pre-engineered buildings are an example of bolted steel construction that is designed, fabricated,
shipped and erected by one company to the owner.

LIGHT GAUGE STEEL CONSTRUCTION

• It is a type of construction that is common for residential and small buildings in North America and
parts of Europe.
• This is like wood framed construction, except that light gauge steel members are used in place of wood
two-by-fours.
• Light gauge steel is steel that is in the form of thin (1-3mm) sheets of steel that have been bent into
shape to form C-sections or Z-sections.
WEIGHT OF STEEL FRAME STRUCTURES

Consider a single-story building measuring 5 x 8m (16 x 26ft). If it is getting constructed in concrete, with
four columns at the corners, beams spanning between the columns, and a 150mm (6") thick concrete slab at
the top. Such a structure would weigh about 800 kg/m² or 32 Tons (32,000 kg) in total. If we build this of
steel instead, with a sloping roof covered with corrugated metal sheeting with insulation, this will weigh only
about 65 kg/m². The steel framed building will weigh only 2.6 Tons (2,600 kg). So, the concrete building is
over 12 times heavier! This is for single-story structures - in multi-story structures, the difference will be less,
as the floors in multi-story steel buildings are built of concrete slabs for economy - but the difference is still
significant.
ADVANTAGES OF STEEL STRUCTURES-Steel structures have the following advantages:
• They are super-quick to build at site, as a lot of work can be pre-fabbed at the factory.
• They are flexible, which makes them very good at resisting dynamic (changing) forces such as wind or
earthquake forces.
• A wide range of ready-made structural sections are available, such as I, C, and angle sections.
• They can be made to take any kind of shape and clad with any type of material.
• A wide range of joining methods is available, such as bolting, welding, and riveting.

DISADVANTAGES OF STEEL STRUCTURES-Steel structures have the following disadvantages:

• They lose strength at high temperatures and are susceptible to fire.
• They are prone to corrosion in humid or marine environments.
TIMBER FRAME CONSTRUCTION/ WOOD FRAME CONSTRUCTION
Light wood framed construction is one of the most popular types of building methods for homes in the
United States and parts of Europe. It has the following characteristics:
1. It is light and allows quick construction with no heavy tools or equipment. Every component can easily
be carried by hand - a house essentially becomes a large carpentry job. The main tool is a handheld nail
gun.
2. It can adapt itself to any geometric shape and can be clad with a variety of materials.
3. There are a huge variety of products and systems tailored to this type of construction.

It has these negative characteristics:

1. It is not highly fireproof, as it is made of wood.
2. It is not strong enough to resist major wind events such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

Every timber frame home structure is made of a few basic components:

Studs are vertical wooden members within the walls.

Joists are the horizontal wooden beams that support the floors.
Rafters are the sloping wooden beams that support the roof.
Sheathing are the sheets that are nailed over the studs to connect them securely and form the wall
surfaces.
Siding is the exterior cladding that covers the walls from the outside.
PLATFORM FRAME STRUCTURES –

This is the sequence you would follow to erect a 2-story platform frame house.

1. Erect the ground floor platform, a horizontal wooden platform over the foundation.

2. Build all the walls up to a height of one story. This can easily be done by building each wall flat - on
the floor platform - and then tilting it vertically.

3. Build the next floor platform.

4. Erect the next set of vertical walls in the same manner on the top of the second platform.

5. Build the sloping roof over the walls.

PRECAST CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURE

1.Create a detailed design for the precast component.

2.Prepare the mould to obtain the shape required.
3.Place steel reinforcement bars (and prestressed wires if needed)
in the mould.
4.Pour concrete into the form.
5.If you don’t use self-consolidating concrete (SCC), vibrate the mix
to remove air bubbles and increase the strength of the precast
concrete.
6.Let the concrete cure.
7.Remove the precast element from the mould after reaching the
required strength.
8.Do a quality check. If it’s satisfactory, move the component to the
storage area.
9.Once the construction team orders the precast components, load
them in a lorry considering the order of erection and take them to
the site.
10.Additional quality controls are carried out on-site.
11.If the precast concrete components are accepted, use a crane or
other heavy equipment to lift them into place.
12.Connect the elements after they are in the final position.
CONNECTING PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS
Precast concrete components can be connected in a number of ways:

1. Bolted
• They can be bolted together.
• In order to do this, steel connectors are embedded in the concrete at the time of casting.
• This must be done with great precision.

2. Grouted or Concreted
• They can be grouted or concreted together.
• In this method, loops of steel reinforcement are left protruding out of the precast concrete members.
• Two members are placed in position, and reinforcement is threaded between the loops.
• Fresh concrete is then poured around this reinforcement, in a space left for this purpose.