Building

superstructure

A High-rise buildings
The adoption of framed structures for multi-storey buildings has contributed to satisfying
the increased demand for efficient use of space and cost-effective building practices. These
structures allow maximum provision of usable space with minimum space taken up by the
structure.
1 Functions of framed structures
Framed buildings differ from traditional load bearing structures in the way the loads are
transmitted. The structural frame supports the external envelope, the internal walls, floors
and fixtures and fittings. The transfer of loads takes place through a skeleton frame, which
has several benefits, which include:
§ The usable floor area is maximised by the use of a small area of the frame.
§ Greater flexibility in the use of the building by providing large areas of open plan
floor space.
§ The use of framed structures results in savings in tome and cost over traditional load
bearing structures.
§ The reduction of overall building mass leads to maximum exploitation of ground
bearing capacity.
§ Ease of replacement of components such as external cladding during building
refurbishment.
2 Frames
Framed structures consist of skeleton frames. These are a series of rectangular frames at
right angles to each other, so that the loads are transmitted through the horizontal members
(beams) then the vertical ones (columns) as in Figure 1.
An alternative form of skeleton is shown in Figure 2. This configuration allows for greater
amount of unrestricted floor space. Some of the internal columns are moved to the
perimeter of the building and a central structural core is constructed of reinforced concrete.
The core and perimeter structural tube are connected using lattice beams.
Concrete frames
In situ reinforced concrete frames are constructed on-site using steel reinforcement bars
and wet concrete poured into a formwork. This is a temporary structure designed to contain
the fluid concrete and allow it to form into the required shape and dimensions.
Steel reinforcements are used in concrete frames cast on site, in order to increase their
tensile strength. While concrete is good at withstanding compression, it is not good in
tension. When a beam is loaded, its lower part is in tension as opposed to the upper part,
which is in compression (see Figure 3,).
Precast concrete frames are similar to in situ concrete ones. They are particularly cost
effective for large-scale operations where repetitive members can be used (beams, columns).
They are produced under factory conditions to exact requirements, and delivered on site
ready to be erected using different methods of connections. Figures 4 to 7 illustrate some of
these methods of connection.
Structural steel frames
The use of structural steel frames has gained in popularity these days. Their design,
fabrication, supply and erection are usually carried out by specialist subcontractors. The
most commonly used sections are categorised as, Universal beams, Joists, Universal columns,
Channels, Angles and T-bars (Figure 8). The sizes are standardized, which makes them
economical to produce. However this generally means that when a section is chosen it will
be oversized, as it is rarely the case that that there is a match between the loads calculated
and the standard structural section sizes available. Given that steel is not good in
compression, steel beams tend to be oversized to withstand the compressive loading.
Connections in structural steelwork can be categorised as either shop connections or site
connections. “Black” bolts –not a reference to colour but tolerance- can be used as either hot
or cold forged types, with the thread machined onto the shank. These do not have high shear
strength. “Bright” bolts have machined shanks and benefit from more accurate dimensions.
High-strength friction bolts are manufactured from high-tensile steel. These are much
stronger compared to other bolts. Although rivets have been superseded by bolts and welds,
they may still need to be used in refurbishment projects, if the steelwork is to be
refurbished.
Welding connections (shop connections), are less used on site as the need for inspection and
the safety issues make them costly.
The erection of the steelwork starts with the fixing of the holding down bolts to the base
slab. The accuracy of positioning them is very important as the tolerance is only ±3 mm (see
Figure 9). Once the concrete around the bolt boxes is cured the base plate is bolted firmly
and grouted as shown in Figure 10. Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a typical connection
between ground floor column and base plate, as well as a column-to-column connection. A
column to beam connection is shown in Figure 13.
Approximate sizes of structural members
Type of member Approximate depth
Beam a) Lightly loaded. Depth=Span/20
b) Heavily loaded. Depth=Span/18
Slab Simply supported. Depth=span/30
Cantilever Fixed at one end only. Depth= span/7
Truss Simply supported. Depth=Span/14
Portal frame Depth=Span/40
Space frame Spanning 2 ways. Depth = Span/40
Spanning 1 way. Depth=Span/15




B Long span buildings
This sections deals with framed structures for long span single storey buildings. Although
the choice of structural materials for this type of buildings is done in a similar way to that of
multi-storey buildings, the use of steel tends to be more than concrete given that the need to
cover long spans (tension) is more than that to support large loads (compression). Due to
the increasing awareness of the need to build green, the use of timber for frames to this type
of building is increasing.

Castellated and lattice beam frames
These beams can be used for both flat and pitched roofs in framed buildings. For flat roof
construction, the use lattice and castellated beams is illustrated in Figures 14 – 16. For
pitched roofs, lattice trusses are used. These give smaller spans, but economical
construction. Such a system is shown in Figure 17. Bracing is needed for this type of
structure. Different methods of bracing are shown in Figures 18 – 20.

Portal framed buildings
Portal frames can span between 20 and 60m within cost effective budgets. They are
constructed using supporting columns with rigid connections to raking roof members, to
produce a highly rigid unit supporting the roof loads across the width of the building. The
distance between members is usually between 4.5 and 7.5 m. Bracing is used in the vertical
and horizontal directions (Figure 21).

Space frames
Space frames are used when large spans are required. A typical steel space deck module is
shown in Figure 22. The space frame is constructed using factory-produced steel pyramids
bolted together on site and the nodes connected with tie bars to form a double layer roof
construction (Figure 23). Module sizes can vary, but typical examples include (Length x
Width x Depth), 1.2 x 1.2 x 0.75 m, 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 m, 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 m, 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.2 m, 2 x 2 x
2 m. They have many advantages such as:
§ Off the shelf availability
§ Excellent span to depth ratio
§ Excellent facility for servicing and ducting
§ No need to use purlins to fix the roof deck
§ Suitable for irregular plan shapes
§ Fully adjustable cambering facility
§ Easy to transport, handle and stack and erect

Effective spans
The suitability and economic worthiness for the various types of structural frames is shown
in the table given in Figure 24.