Kattumaanap Poriyaalar october 2013 | Page 53

As the car park is planned on the ground floor/ stilt parking, the car will need more space for turn around in a medium size apartments. Columns are spread apart to satisfy the parking requirements. Once the column is raised above the ground floor , the layout of floors are different and columns are located inside the rooms. Hence, floating columns are adopted to move the column towards wall. Beams are forced to connect to each other and are not in a position to connect them to column. Provision of balcony, sunken floor and stair/ lift arrangement also restricting the beam to column connection. While considering the interior decoration, beams are restricted to run inside the room and planned to get merged with the wall width (even it is 200mm thick). With all, the building is constructed in an unconventional ways and violating the seismic design requirements. What is Structural Engineering? The structure of a building is responsible for maintaining the shape of the building even under the influence of the forces, loads and other environmental factors to which it is subjected. It is important that the structure as a whole does not fall down, break or deform to an unacceptable degree when subjected to such forces or loads. The study of structures involves analysis of the forces and stresses and the designing of suitable components to with stand them. A structural engineer solves the problem and ensuring that a building is adequate enough in terms of strength, stability, serviceability, etc. for its intended use. Structural understanding The basic function of a structure is to transmit loads from the position of application of the load to the point of support and thus to the foundations in the ground. Any structure must satisfy the following criteria: (1) Aesthetics (it should look nice). (2) Economy (it should be affordable by the client). (3) Ease of maintenance . (4) Durability. This means that the materials used must be resistant to corrosion, spalling, chemical attack, etc. (5) Fire resistance. While few materials can completely resist the effects of fire, it is important for a building to resist fire long enough so that its occupants can be safely evacuated. In order to ensure that the structure is fire resistance, we need to develop an understanding and awareness of how the structure works. Safety and serviceability There are two main requirements of any structure: it must be safe and it must be serviceable. ‘Safe’ means that the structure should not collapse – either in whole or in part. ‘Serviceable’ means that the structure should not deform unduly under the effects of deflection, cracking or vibration. Safety A structure must carry the expected loads without collapsing as a whole and without any part of it collapsing. Safety in this respect depends on the estimated load carrying capacity of the structure and the current strength of the materials used in the building . Serviceability A structure must be designed in such a way that it doesn’t deflect or crack unduly in use. It is difficult or impossible to completely eliminate these things – the important thing is that the deflection and cracking are kept within permissible limits. It must also be ensured that vibration does not have an adverse effect on the structure – this is particularly important in parts of buildings containing plant or machinery. When you walk over the floor of a building, and feel the floor is deflecting underneath your feet, then you have to be concerned about the integrity of the structure. Excessive deflection does not necessarily mean that the floor is about to collapse, but deflection must fl;Lkhdg; nghwpahsh; 55 mf;Nlhgh; 2013 è † ´ ñ £ ù Š ªð £ P ò £ ÷ ˜