Article Review #5: Portal Frames

Wow,this could help me understand the dimensions of a portal frame. Click here to view it.

A great website to look at!

I did a lot of research on concrete floors for my major assignment project,i managed to find a couple of good websites that have informative articles on precast concrete. One of them is...

Click Here to go there!

Article Review 4

I came across this article while i was on this website www.infolink.com.au

Since,this sem concentrates more on portal frames, i think this would be a great article to review on.

In this article the architect expressed his concern with the large span of building that he is designing.The engineer said"Bonnaci Group engineer David Farrar says the building required very substantial footings and ground anchoring because of its height and size. "Sway was a big issue for this building because of the racking requirements," he says. "The maximum allowable sway at the top was 150mm, although we kept the sway to only 100mm.

"To solve the sway problem in an economical design, we used a propped portal framed building utilising four 35m long, 600mm diameter props on one side of the building, with a wind truss on the roof".

"We took the unusual step for an industrial building of using ground anchors in the main footings in order to substantially reduce the volume of concrete required in the footings, as wind uplift forces were critical for the footing design."

Source: Building Products News

Article review 3

Home among the trees

Click here to read it

Land previously described as unsuitable for building has become the site of a magnificent architect-designed home at Brooklyn on NSW’s central coast.

“River Rock”, set high among the trees was designed by Sydney architect Ashley Talbot, who not only had to overcome what many would describe as an impossible building site, but the challenges of constructing a home on land with restricted vehicle access. It is built over a constricted area of rock shelves which have been used as a feature of the home.

“Although there is a narrow unsealed road leading to the rear boundary of the property you cannot drive a vehicle on it,” says Talbot. “That meant we had to prefabricate as much of the building off-site as possible, which is why steel frame construction was a good choice.”
Talbot says the lightweight steel frame made from DuraGal enabled the floor to be erected quickly, giving the builder a level working platform on the steep site. “With its smooth, ready to paint surface finish, close tolerances and easy lightweight assembly, DuraGal contributed to a significant reduction in the overall construction cost and time frame for the project compared with conventional construction techniques.”

“River Rock” was designed and constructed as a series of off set room modules that enabled the key elements of the design brief to be met, while reducing construction activities on site.

28-May-2001

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i find this article really interesting.So i googled Duragal steel

and you can click here to view it.

Article Review 2

I was just discussing with my tutor for my studio project and i found out that a lot of the commercial construction in Australia uses steel as its structural construction system.

So,i googled steel building advantages, and i came across the same website that gave me a great explaination on Precast concrete and Tiltup wall construction.


After reading this article i've come to a conclusion to why many constructors and architect opt for steel instead of other materials.

1) Prefabricated steel can be erected quickly than the traditionally constructed buildings. Hence more time is saved.
2) Prefabricated steel building kits are generally less expensive than custom-designed structures built using traditional construction.
3)When a large clearspan is needed, steel would be the best material for it.

Article Review 1

Precast Concrete, Tilt up construction and tiltwall

In relations to my major assignment project,I have a difficult understanding between these three terms. Do they all mean the same?

Luckily,i found an article on the internet,that explains clearly what these 3 terms really mean.



The difference between these 3 terms is ,the tilt up and tiltwall term is used to define the same process. However, with tilt up construction, pouring the slab and all of the processes is done at the site and there is an advantage to this process--no transportation is required since everything is done at the site itself.

On the other hand, precast concrete has its own challenges,even though the process is quite similar to tilt up construction.For precast concrete buildings, work crews do not set up forms at the job site to create the panels. Instead, workers pre cast concrete panels at a large manufacturing facility.There is also an advantage to this, the weather condition will not affect the process of producing concrete since it is done indoors. However, there is a limitation to this: transportation and a limitation towards the height and the weight of the panels of the concrete that will be transfered to the site.

After reading this article,i found out that ,tilt-up construction is a much desirable process to choose, and only in locations where the weather allows it.

Major Project Poster

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