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
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