Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Buildings, Reinforced concrete Australia Design and construction'

Includes corrigenda (inserted at front) and list of publications published as a result of this research. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-199) Investigates the overload behaviour and modes of collapse of reinforced concrete flexural members containing 500MPa grade reinforcing steel and evaluates the adequacy of current ductility requirements for design according to AS 3600 to ensure strength and safety.

A confined masonry (CM) wall consists of a masonry wall panel surrounded by reinforced concrete (RC) members on its perimeters. Low-rise CM structures are widely used in earthquake-risked (EQ-risked) rural or suburban areas all over the world. Most of these structures fail in shear pattern under lateral EQ loads, and some of them collapse under a severe or even a moderate EQ due to inappropriate design. On the other hand, buildings constructed of RC frames have much better performance in resisting EQs, since their RC members have larger dimensions and heavier reinforcing ratios than those in CM structures. Nonetheless, RC-frame buildings are normally too expensive for most inhabitants in less developed regions. In this study, as an improvement to the conventional CM buildings for EQ resistance and for the sake of post-EQ restoration, a hybrid masonry – RC (HMR) structure, whose working mechanism is different from that of a conventional CM structure, is proposed. The RC members (i.e. “tie beams” and “tie columns”), which function only as confinement in a CM building, will resist most of gravity load and part of lateral EQ load in an HMR structure, while the wall panels will take most of lateral EQ load and part of gravity load. This is achievable by slightly increasing the sizes and reinforcing ratios of RC members in HMR structures. Such buildings will not collapse in the absence of masonry wall panels because the gravity load bearing system is still intact. On the other hand, as the wall panels in the proposed HMR structure will absorb most of the energy induced by lateral EQ load, severe damages will be controlled within the wall panel region, so that only the wall panels need to be replaced instead of rebuilding the whole structure after the EQ event. To investigate the mechanical behaviours of masonry assemblages to be used in HMR structures, a series of experimental tests were conducted. Having established the relevant material properties for HMR structures, finite element (FE) simulation was performed to verify its work mechanism. Prior to applying the FE simulation to HMR structures, the FE technique was first applied to simulate the behaviours of two concrete-brick masonry panels under diagonal compression loading and a CM wall under cyclic lateral loading. The results show a good correlation between the experimental results and the simulated ones. This has validated the feasibility of using the FE software to study the proposed HMR structure. The theoretical simulation results show that in a properly designed HMR wall, depending on the masonry reinforcing details and the boundary conditions of simulated load cases, about 70% of the gravity load imposed on the RC beam will be transferred to the RC columns and more than 80% of the seismic energy (in terms of strain energy) will be absorbed by the masonry panel. Therefore, it is obvious that the proposed HMR structure is very feasible to replace the conventional CM structure in resisting EQ attacks with no risk of collapse.
published_or_final_version
Civil Engineering
Master
Master of Philosophy

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Certain regions within the Western Cape Province are at risk of a moderate intensity earthquake. It is therefore crucial that infrastructure in these areas be designed to resist its devastating effect. Numerous types of structural buildings exist in these seismic prone areas. The most common types are either reinforced concrete framed buildings with masonry infill or unreinforced masonry buildings. Many of these buildings predate the existence of the first loading code of 1989 which provided regulations for seismic design. The previous code was superseded in 2010 with a code dedicated to providing guidelines for seismic design of infrastructure. A concern was raised whether these buildings meet the requirements of the new code. A numerical investigation was performed on a representative reinforced concrete framed building with masonry infill to determine whether the building meets the new code’s requirements. The results from the investigation show that the stresses at critical points in the columns exceed the codified requirements, thus leading to local failure. After careful review it was discovered that these local failures in the columns will most likely lead to global failure of the building.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In sekere streke in die Wes-Kaap bestaan daar risiko van matige intensiteit aardbewings. Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat die infrastruktuur in hierdie gebiede ontwerp word om die vernietigende uitwerking te weerstaan. Gebous met verskillende tipes strukturele uitlegte kom in hierdie gebied voor. Die mees algemene struktuur tipe is gewapende beton-raam geboue met baksteen invol panele sowel as ongewapende baksteen geboue. Baie van hierdie geboue is gebou voor die eerste las-kode van 1989 wat regulasies vir seismiese ontwerp voorsien in gebruik geneem is. Die vorige kode is vervang in 2010 met ’n kode toegewy tot die verskaffing van riglyne vir seismiese ontwerp van infrastruktuur. Kommer het ontstaan of hierdie geboue voldoen aan die vereistes van die nuwe kode. ’n Numeriese ondersoek is uitgevoer op ’n verteenwoordigende gewapende beton geraamde gebou met baksteen panele om te bepaal of die gebou voldoen aan die nuwe kode vereistes rakende sismiese ontwerp. Die resultate van die ondersoek toon dat die spanning op kritieke punte in die kolomme die gekodifiseerde vereistes oorskry, wat tot plaaslike faling lei. Na verdere onderssoek is dit bepaal dat die plaaslike faling in die kolomme waarskynlik tot globale faling van die gebou sal lei.

Shear-wall dominant multi-story reinforced concrete structures, constructed by using a special tunnel form technique are commonly built in countries facing a substantial seismic risk, such as Chile, Japan, Italy and Turkey. In 1999, two severe urban earthquakes struck Kocaeli and Dü
zce provinces in Turkey with magnitudes (Mw) 7.4 and 7.1, respectively. These catastrophes caused substantial structural damage, casualties and loss of lives. In the aftermath of these destructive earthquakes, neither demolished nor damaged shear-wall dominant buildings constructed by tunnel form techniques were reported. In spite of their high resistance to earthquake excitations, current seismic code provisions including the Uniform Building Code and the Turkish Seismic Code present limited information for their design criteria. This study presents experimental investigation of the panel unit having H-geometry. To investigate the seismic behavior of panel buildings, two prototype test specimens which have H wall design were tested at the Structural Mechanics Laboratory at METU. The experimental work involves the testing of two four-story, 1/5-scale reinforced concrete panel form building test specimens under lateral reversed loading, simulating the seismic forces and free vibration tests. Free vibration tests before and after cracking were done to assess the differences between the dynamic properties of uncracked and cracked test specimens. A moment-curvature program named Waller2002 for shear walls is developed to include the effects of steel strain hardening, confinement of concrete and tension strength of concrete. The moment-curvature relationships of panel form test specimens showed that walls with very low longitudinal steel ratios exhibit a brittle flexural failure with very little energy absorption. Shear walls of panel form test specimens have a reinforcement ratio of 0.0015 in the longitudinal and vertical directions. Under gradually increasing reversed lateral loading, the test specimens reached ultimate strength, as soon as the concrete cracked, followed by yielding and then rupturing of the longitudinal steel. The displacement ductility of the panel form test specimens was found to be very low. Thus, the occurrence of rupture of the longitudinal steel, as also observed in analytical studies, has been experimentally verified. Strength, stiffness, energy dissipation and story drifts of the test specimens were examined by evaluating the test results.

Multi-level concrete buildings requrre substantial temporary formwork structures to support the slabs during construction. The primary function of this formwork is to safely disperse the applied loads so that the slab being constructed, or the portion of the permanent structure already constructed, is not overloaded. Multi-level formwork is a procedure in which a limited number of formwork and shoring sets are cycled up the building as construction progresses. In this process, each new slab is supported by a number of lower level slabs. The new slab load is, essentially, distributed to these supporting slabs in direct proportion to their relative stiffness. When a slab is post-tensioned using draped tendons, slab lift occurs as a portion of the slab self-weight is balanced. The formwork and shores supporting that slab are unloaded by an amount equivalent to the load balanced by the post-tensioning. This produces a load distribution inherently different from that of a conventionally reinforced slab. Through , theoretical modelling and extensive on-site shore load measurement, this research examines the effects of post-tensioning on multilevel formwork load distribution. The research demonstrates that the load distribution process for post-tensioned slabs allows for improvements to current construction practice. These enhancements include a shortening of the construction period; an improvement in the safety of multi-level form work operations; and a reduction in the quantity of form work materials required for a project. These enhancements are achieved through the general improvement in safety offered by post-tensioning during the various formwork operations. The research demonstrates that there is generally a significant improvement in the factors of safety over those for conventionally reinforced slabs. This improvement in the factor of safety occurs at all stages of the multi-level formwork operation. The general improvement in the factors of safety with post-tensioned slabs allows for a shortening of the slab construction cycle time. Further, the low level of load redistribution that occurs during the stripping operations makes post-tensioned slabs ideally suited to reshoring procedures. Provided the overall number of interconnected levels remains unaltered, it is possible to increase the number of reshored levels while reducing the number of undisturbed shoring levels without altering the factors of safety, thereby, reducing the overall quantity of formwork and shoring materials.

Includes corrigenda (inserted after title page) and list of publications published as a result of this research.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-199)
xxvii, 223 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.
Investigates the overload behaviour and modes of collapse of reinforced concrete flexural members containing 500MPa grade reinforcing steel and evaluates the adequacy of current ductility requirements for design according to AS 3600 to ensure strength and safety.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2002

Studies the behaviour of reinforced concrete frame structures designed in accordance with AS3600 concrete structures code using a non-linear computer model. A computer model of a multi-storey multi-bay prototype structure was created.
Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 1999

A special problem in many reinforced concrete structures built in the 1970s and earlier is the lack of continuity between elements. Continuity is a characteristic of structures essential to preventing collapse. Therefore, in extreme loading conditions such as loss of a column support due to terrorist attack or if earthquake or other extreme actions occur, the structures could be vulnerable to collapse. The study reported here focused on two structural discontinuities in existing reinforced concrete structures, discontinuity in bottom reinforcement in beams (horizontal discontinuity) and poorly detailed lap splices in columns (vertical discontinuity). The objective of this study was to develop rehabilitation methods using CFRP to provide continuity of reinforcement in existing structures. To develop the rehabilitation methods, two separate experimental studies were conducted using beam and column specimens. CFRP materials were applied to the bottom or side face of a beam and anchored using CFRP anchors or U-wraps to provide horizontal continuity in bottom reinforcement and tested under dynamic loading. After CFRP rehabilitation, the ductility of the bottom reinforcement and large rotational capacity of the beam were realized. CFRP materials were also applied to the lap splice region in square and rectangular columns which exhibited a brittle splice failure as-built. After rehabilitating the columns using CFRP jackets and anchors, the failure mode changed from a brittle splice failure to yield of column reinforcement, and the strength and deformation capacity were improved under both monotonic and cyclic loading. Based on the results of beam and column tests, design guidelines for CFRP rehabilitation were proposed. Horizontal and vertical continuities can be provided through the use of CFRP for rehabilitating existing reinforced concrete structures that were designed prior to the introduction of codes that require continuous reinforcement along members and between adjacent members. The vulnerability of such structures to collapse can be reduced through rehabilitation.
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This study examines the application of high-strength concrete (HSC) in structural walls of tall buildings. Emphasis is put on the cost-benefits corresponding to the use of higher concrete strengths. The parameters included in the cost analysis are: the material cost of concrete and reinforcing steel; the construction costs including the placement costs of the steel reinforcement and wet concrete, and the formwork cost; and the cost-benefit additional floor area gains, corresponding to thinner walls resulted from applications. In lateral load resisting buildings, HSC are more likely to be used in the structural columns and walls. It is shown in the review of literature (Chapter 2) that the utilisations of HSC in building applications are economical. The work done so far was mostly involving the use of HSC columns in the medium-rise buildings. The cost analyses carried out in this thesis reveals that significant cost-benefits can also be achieved in the HSC walls. Comparing to the 40 MPa concrete, a 120 MPa concrete wall building capitalising at $8,000 per square meter results in a cost-benefit more than 2.5 times the construction costs of the 40 MPa wall, a significant amount. The structural walls investigated are two-dimensional cantilever and coupled walls, and a threerdimensional core wall comprising two 'C' shape walls and header beams coupling the two walls. The results of the investigations are presented in Chapters 6 and 7. A case study of a model 30-storey building is also given in Chapter 8. This study concluded that the use of HSC in structural wall buildings is recommended.

Facade systems are an integral part of modern day construction, especially with reinforced concrete structures. These facade systems are typically designed to withstand the effects of normal service loads and severe weather conditions. However, these elements are rarely designed to withstand the effects of an external explosion, which is considered as a rising threat to structural safety with the recent escalation of terrorist activities. In addition, these facade systems will act as the first layer of defence against an external explosion limiting the damage to the main structure. The aim of this research is to study the effects of blast loading on reinforced concrete facade systems. More specifically, the behaviour of reinforced concrete facade panels with flexible support conditions will be investigated. The overall aim was pursued by evaluating and utilising experimental studies relevant to this research to undertake 3-D finite element modelling using LS-DYNA and 1-D analytical modelling using a theoretical development. The validated numerical and analytical models were then utilised in a comprehensive parametric study.