What you don't know or doesn't pay attention to in Buildings and Structural Designs 2(With Pen Sketches Illustrations)

oluwoleolaide (68)in #steemstem • 6 years ago

Rough Sketches for Illustration Purposes

Sorry for the delay in the continuation of this topic, my real life activities greatly intersected my Blockchain performance over the past 4 days, if you followed BUILDING AND STRUCTURAL DESIGNS EXPLAINED IN THE SIMPLEST BY ME here is the part two.

Please Note: This Blog is from a Design and Drafting Electrical Engineer using AutoCAD point of view, this are some of my experience as a Design Engineer and A Building Project Manager and this are some of the basic things required to know in this field which i have tried to breakdown/explained to the simplest form in my best Knowledge. Therefore, this are not recommended for Professional Studies or Exams.

Structural designs is different for the different types of building in construction, the Structure of a concrete Building is totally different to that of an All Metal one(Bunkers, Silos, Oil Reservoirs). A glass Built Structure is totally different in Design and Structure to a Cross-Laminated Timber(CLT) building which is the popular Eco-Friendly design. Irrespective of all this Designs and technology, they all have one thing in common know as the "Structural Members".

The most vital parts of a Building/Structure is the Layout/plans and the members(Parts) which is the means of supporting the Structure be it Glass, CLT, Metal or Concrete. The important parts of this plans/Blueprints are called the Section of the Structure which are as follows:

Approach Elevation.
Right Side Elevation.
Left Side Elevation.
Rear Elevation/Back View.

This section helps building Engineers to get detailed information about a proposed structure as designed by Architects, the sections of the structure is further grouped into:

Sub Section A-A and Section B-B

Both sub-sections further indicating how the structure is divided.

To an ordinary person who has not structural knowledge, a structure only has Foundation, Scaffolding, walls and Truckload of Sand and Gravel with cements etc. But from a Building management point of view; Structural members are the Bones, Blood, Tissues and Cells of any Building/Structure due for construction and this members are listed below:

Foundations
Panels/Slabs
Columns
Beams(Lintel beams, continuous beams, Half Landing beams, Cantilever etc.)
Load Bearing Walls
Scaffolding

I'll briefly explain what each of this Structural members does/function as in an Building/Structure below:

FOUNDATION: Deep and Shallow Foundation are the two categories which depends on the soil Mechanics and the type of construction to be done. It connects the Building to the ground and transfer heavy loads of the Building/Structure to the Ground. The lower portion of structure/building that transfers its gravity loads to the earth.

SLABS/PANELS: as explained in the first installment, they have multiple uses which includes to cover up sections, or made for lands which continuous floors are built on.

LOAD BEARING WALLS: This are used where no column is used i.e in some Garages, Car parks on High Rise Buildings. It is made either by concrete filling the Bricks/Blocks used in making the walls or the Blocks/Bricks are made to the Maximum Thickness, the thickness of this Bricks makes it durable for Heavier structural loads. See illustration below:

COLUMNS: Also referred to as Pillar are tall cylindrical or Square objects used to support a structure, it transmits the entire weight of the Structure above to the below structural members(Foundation), this Upper Structures includes Roof, Upper floors of Story buildings etc. and Columns could be visible or stay hidden in walls. Concepting is the Arrangement of Beams and Column. Closely look at the positioning/Arrangement of Columns and Beams in the image below:

BEAMS: Mostly square-like objects which deflects loads applied on it's axis by Bending. Beams are carried by columns or Load Bearing Walls, without this two a Beam can never Hold/Stay therefore it rests on Columns while Slabs/Panels rest on Beams. An inter-connective function of this Structural Members is so important lest, a default in one Structural Member could lead to a Catastrophic collapse of a building and loss of lives. Both Beams and Columns often stay hidden within walls and Beams do not drop in Residential Structures But could be accommodated to Drop in Commercial structures. The following are various types of Beams available in Construction:

Half Landing Beams: This is used to support Stairs/Steps both spiral and Vertical types.
Lintel Beams: This are on top of doors and windows, it supports the walls/bricks above the doors/windows. Lintel Beams rests on the wall/bricks around a door/window, the weight of the Brick walls above doors/windows opening might work/Fall on them if there is nothing supporting it hence Lintel Beams are used to serve this purpose.

Single/Simple Supported Beam, Continuous Beam and Cantilevers

Real Life Application of Cantilever in Building/Structure

COLUMNS AND BEAMS THICKNESS

For Columns, there is no standard application to the sizes of pillar to be used. Each structure's size/magnitude will depend on the size of Column to be used e.g A Stadium Columns would be bigger than a Three Story Apartment, While for Beams; (230 × 450 mm, 230 × 600 mm, 230 × 900 mm) The constant dimension "230" means the beams can easily stay hidden in the Bricks/Walls because of the default size of the Brick which is the same "230 mm".

CONCLUSION

It was pretty fuzzy for me too juggling Construction with circuit diagrams and load sharing(Distributions Board Designs) but i managed to master some vital parts. Hopefully it doesn't look fuzzy to anyone reading this too and thanks for staying put for this concluding part and please refer to text books and the Internet for comprehensive studies.