CAUSES AND

DETECTION OF
DAMAGES
 Introduction

 Major damages to the structures are caused by natural

calamities in the form of major and minor cracks.
 Some of the main causes of damages in structures are irregular
planning, faulty design, poor construction, foundation failure,
extra loads or combination of these causes In addition to
natural disasters.
 It is necessary to investigate the exact causes of damages so as
to take an appropriate remedial measures and systematically
pan for repair.
 Causes of damages
1. Distress in Structure

Distress is a natural phenomenon and would appear in structure due to wear

and tear.
Distress happens due to factors such as poor workmanship, lack of
maintenance, atmospheric effects, natural calamities, chemical reactions etc.
Construction involves human factors at every stage and would remain in
service for long period during which addition, alterations, overloading etc. of
any component of structure causing unforeseen stresses which are referred as
distress in structure.
 Hence distress is nothing but unwanted stresses produced in the structure due
to change in functional use of structure.
 2. Earthquake
 Damages caused by earthquake are almost associated with man made
structures such as buildings, dams, bridges etc. Damages of structures and
its components can be repaired with appropriate technique.
 Earthquake causes shaking of ground and structures which is resting on the
ground will be subjected to motion at base. Thus base of structure moves
but structure has tendency to stay in its original position due to inertia.
 An earthquake resistant construction should have following properties foe
better seismic performance:
i. Good structural configuration
ii. Enough lateral strength
iii. Good deformability
iv. Better damageability
 3. Wind
 Wind can cause major damages to the structures and other
properties based on basic wind velocity.
 Wind damages basically come into two distinct forms damages
caused by wind and damages caused by tornadoes.
 Normal wind does not always reach high enough velocity to
cause damages but can produce gusts that may be enough to
knock over trees or blow down fences.
 A heavy wind in which basic wind pressure is high may damage
trees, power lines and small strucutres.
 4. Flood

 The effect of flood is damage of power transmission, loss

of power, loss of lives, property damages, crop
destruction, deterioration of health condition resulting to
need of maintenance and repairs.
 5. Dampness
 The capillary penetration from ground up through the concrete or masonry is
referred as rising dampness.
 Dampness tends to cause, secondary damage to a structure and unwanted
moisture enables the growth of fungi and moist environment issues that
leads to maintenance and repairs .
 Dampness may be due to construction water, intruding water, water
condensation, occupational water etc.
The primary cause of dampness are porous masonry, cracks, defects in points,
unfilled joints, defects in sealing, holes in walls etc.
 The source or root of water in structure or building element must be
identified accurately for the effective planning of maintenance and repairs.
 6. Corrosion
 Corrosion is the reaction that takes place uniformly over surface of
material causing general thinning of components and an eventual
failure of material.
 The parameters like resistivity, diffusion of chlorides and sulphate
and pH variation have influence on corrosion potential and
corrosion rate.
 The deterioration occurs due to corrosion such as spalling of
concrete cover, cracks parallel to the reinforcements, spalling of
edges, swelling of concrete, dislocation, internal cracking and
reduction in area of steel reinforcement etc.
 7. Fire
 When fire is not controlled then it can be hazardous to
both building and components.
 Heat of fire along with water used can lead to swelling,
distortion, spalling and cracking of nearby material and
its components.
 For steel structure, fire may cause degradation of
structural materials, thermal buckling and material
yielding under small stresses.
 8. Dilapidation

Dilapidation is the term used to denote the decay and damage

of a structure due to continuous neglect in maintenance and
repairs willingly.
A building is dilapidated when it has underscore severe damage
due to decay of different members causing serious imbalance in
load transfer system as a result external appearance of structure
becomes unpleasant.
 The physical life of dilapidated building is tending to be
expired.
 9. Termite

During monsoon season, dampness in walls can cause

termite attacks which affect furniture.
These termites creates holes through walls, crawling
through cracks in foundation and climbing through roofs.
The preventive measures against termites control are
generally adopted to the existing structures such as
foundation, soil under floor, voids in masonry, contact
points with woodwork, woodwork treatment etc.
 Systematic Approach of Damage Detection
1. Preliminary investigation
2. Physical inspection
3. Material testing
4. Non-destructive test
5. Detailed investigation
6. Study of available documents
7. Estimation of actual loads and environmental effects
8. Errors in design and construction
9. Retrospective analysis
10. Strengthening requirements

11. Relevant approaches to repair

 1. Preliminary Investigation
 Under preliminary investigation, it is important to keep
deteriorated structure in undisturbed condition.
 Overall inspection and collecting photographic data is
done.
 During this investigation collection of available data
and conducting the interview of concern people. Is
ascertained.
 2. Physical Inspection
 Physical inspections are carried out visually and data will be collected
from various sources such as drawings, specifications, interaction and
discussion.
 More attention should be given to correctness of material detailing,
design, loading and exposure conditions.
 Further physical inspection includes identification of visible structural
and non structural damages, construction quality, soil condition and other
non structural elements.
 Some of the useful information may be obtained from physical inspection
of damaged structure such as nature of distress, type of distress, extent of
damages and its classification.
 3. Material Testing
 Under material testing, damaged or undamaged material condition
shall be evaluated by physical, chemical and other testing
techniques.
 Sometime during material testing full scale loading is applied to
observe the condition or observe the response of various structural
elements and their material for correct remedial measures.
 It is necessary to test the correct strength of concrete and steel in
the damaged portion of structure.
 The construction materials such as bricks, metals etc. must be re-
evaluated for strength and other essential engineering properties.
 4. Non- Destructive Test
 Non- Destructive Test (NDT) is a analysis techniques
used to evaluate the properties of concrete or strength of
damaged concrete.
 Non- Destructive techniques are generally used in
investigation for repair works in structural components
to know the concrete depth, bar diameter, bar location,
extent of steel corrosion, chloride ions, permeability,
defects in piles, defects in metals etc.
 5. Detailed Investigation
 When the construction drawings in which layout, structural
details of system and its foundation are not available then
detailed investigation have to be conducted about the total
structural system.
 The success of repairs depends upon detailed investigation
and assessment of root cause, right choice of repair material
and quality of workmanship during execution.
 Detailed investigation includes assessment of distress nature,
NDT methods, exact conditions of exposure and loadings