LOG BOOK Constructing Environments

Friday, 21 March 2014

Introduction into Construction

Construction How do design ideas get translated into the built form?

Structural principles-way bulidings are supported-how loads are supported and

transferred to the ground-envelope of the building

-how materials are chosen and

Efficiency

of system of materials

-how expensive they are-trades that are used

-how they might differ depending on environment

Site Processes

Cranes Used

Labour Neededwho is doing what?

Friday, 21 March 2014

WEEK 1

LoadsStatic

applied slowly

until reaches peak value without fluctuating

structures respond slowly

Live

moving/movable loads

typically vertically but can act horizontally

acts to reflect the dynamic nature of moving load

weight of stored material

Occupancy

Impactkinetic loads of short

duration due to moving objects eg. Vechiles

Dynamic applied suddenly

rapid changes in magnitude and point of application

develops inertial forces in relation to mass and maximum deformation

Windforces exerted by kinetic energy

buildings must be designed to resist wind induced movement

of alteration

exerts positive pressure horizontally

negative suction on the sides

Flutter refers to the rapid oscillations of a flexible

membrane structure cause by effects of wind

Earthquake consists of a series of

longitudinal and transverse vibrations induced in the earth

crust

horizontal components considered most critical in

structural design

Forces

influence that produces a change in the shape or movement

vector quantity possessing magnitude and direction

represented by

Collinear forces occur on a straight line

Concurrent forces have lines of action intersecting at a

common point

Non concurrent forces have lines of actions and do not

intersect

Dead = Permanent load

Load Path = How a load is transferred through the structure and down into the ground taking

the most direct root.

Applied loads have reaction to stable whole load > Equal and

Opposite

Loads are represented as an arrow

Tension Forces particles being pulled apart

by external forces

Compression Forces particles being pushed

together by external forces

Friday, 21 March 2014

WEEK ONE: TOWER CONSTRUCTION

DISCUSSION- The first element the group assessed was what method and type of structure we would use to construct our tower. With the consensus that the traditional ‘brick laying’ would work best as the technique would obviously provide solid foundations.

After this decision was made and the dimensions of our tower decided (6 blocks length x 4 blocks plus a 2.5 block archway width) it was relatively simple constructing our tower and we didn’t discover any structural issues as the build went on and this demonstrated to us that if the technique and ‘pattern’ was kept the entire way this would run smoothly. Ultimately this concept could be applied to other compression structures when being constructed.

TASK - Build a Tower as high as possible with the least amount of material ( **** wood) accommodating for an object to move in and out without damaging the structural integrity of the building.

Friday, 21 March 2014

The biggest problem faced at the beginning was going to be how we would create the archway and still have a completed tower. The solution we came up with was to use the rubber band to combine blocks together that could be placed over the entry way and then the build could continue in the same manner over the top of the created archway.

This method worked as a viable solution and in fact the same method was the reused to create a makeshift ‘roof’ to finish of our tower.

Photos from group member Raymond Widjaja Trisna

Photograph and sketch shows the process of the arch way being constructed and the continuation of building over the archway frame

The sketch shows the general construction of the roof referring to the method that was used to make the arch way

The photograph is of the final construction including roof from a birds eye view

Construction of the structure placed over the entryway to create closed entry point.

Friday, 21 March 2014

As a compression structure our tower successfully transferred the load through each brick component and into the ground when additional weight such as text books were applied allowing for it to maintain its structural form and integrity

The the structure comes under compression forces the load is transferred down evenly and as it is distributed evenly it bares the addition without fault.

Photos from group member Raymond Widjaja Trisna Photos from group member Raymond Widjaja Trisna

The largest difference in other rooms that I identified in their structures was the initial shape that the construction was based around. Many groups varied from a traditional structure and approached a modern circular structure which allowed them to create the arch way without in additional materials such as the rubber band.

Although roofless the circular structure should in theory be able to bare the same weight as out more traditional structure due to the way the individual bricks would compress and therefore distribute weight and load evenly

Compression forces being applied to our structure

Another groups tower who adopted a different approach to us

Friday, 21 March 2014

WEEK 2

Systems

StructuralIncluding

-columns-beams

-load bearing walls-support walls and floor

designed and constructed to support and transmit lateral

loads to the ground

Superstructure vertical extension of building above

foundation

Enclosure the shell or envelope of the

building

Including-roof

-exterior walls-windows

-doors

shelters interior spaces from weather and control airflow and

temperature

Mechanical provides essential services to a

building

Water supply provides water for human consumption

Sewage removes waste from the building

Heating, ventilating and air-conditioning controls temperature of the building

Electrical controls and distributes energy and power

throughout the buildingVertical Transport such as

elevators or stairs to allow people and goods to move

between floors in multi level buildings

Fire Fighting detects and extinguishes fires

ConsiderationsPerformance Requirements

structural compatibility

-fire resistant -comfort in climate

-protection from rain-cope with soil movement

-resistance to sound-age gracefully

Aesthetic Qualities-proportion

-colour-surface qualities (finishes)

finishes based on regulatory constraints

Economic Efficiencies Affordability

-initial coast-life cycle costing

Environmental Impacts-embodied energy

associated materials-efficiency of materials in moderating environment

JointsFixed - counter lever supported on the side

Pin - rotates at the joint but not vertically or horizontally

Roller - Rotation and horizontal movement but not vertical

Friday, 21 March 2014

WEEK 2

Environmentally Sustainable Design

Embodied EnergyHow much energy it

takes to make materials

Aesthetic Qualities-proportion

-colour-surface qualities (finishes)

finishes based on regulatory constraints

Life Cycle

How much energy will be used in its life time

with-sourcing

-manufacture-distribution

-use-recovery

ESD Strategies

-local materials-materials efficiency

-thermal mass-night air purging

-solar and wind energy-sun smart

-cross vent instaltion

Friday, 21 March 2014

WEEK TWO: FRAME CONSTRUCTION TASK: Using a 10cm by 30cm piece of Balsa Wood construct a frame structure to ultimately be the height of at-least 3 meters.

DISCUSSION: First Problem. How many pieces or strips could the wood be cut into in order to allow the frame to reach its highest whilst still being thick enough to be a self supportive structure. Deciding that .5cm is the thinest we wanted to cut our wood into, we settled for 20 .5cm x 30cm pieces of balsa to construct our frame. We began discussing concepts that we could apply to our frame. Deciding not to build a base frame or support to save materials was probably our biggest concern when it came to the stability and whether or not the frame would be capable of standing on its on after construction. Instead we constructed 3 ‘columns’ to make up the frames main structure by joining 5 pieces of the wood together. Leaving us with 5 pieces to use a supporting ‘beams‘ to our frame.

Using a Stanley knife to cut the balsa wood

into fine strips.

We choose to join our strips together with masking tape

joints

Friday, 21 March 2014

Deciding to join our strips together (using masking tape) instead of constructing the tower upwards was a different concept to what the other groups in our room did. By doing this and building the very basic structure whilst the tower was on the ground we were able to work quicker and erect it to its ending height a lot faster then if we built up a story at a time.

The choice of masking tape as a joint as opposed to super glue or hot glue was a matter of time and practicality. Masking tape was much faster and easier for us to work with and although not as pretty or neat as super glue by overlapping the pieces of wood when joining them the joint areas became some what stronger. The masking tape essentially acted as a fixed joint in our frame.

Standing our three columns up we arranged them in a some what triangular layout drawing them in at the top so that they would meet in the centre and be connected with more masking tape. We then lay the tower back horizontally across the floor so that we could begin to add the supports.

Constructing the frame whilst laying it across the ground for easier access allowing us to work more closely and carefully

Friday, 21 March 2014

The supporting pieces of wood that were used to join the three vertical supports were placed on angle as to maximise the support given but minimise the material used. Due to the flimsiness of our frame the tower began to get a slight twist as the supporting beams continued up the tower. As the supports travelled further up we decided to cut the two remaining strips into 2 (15cm) and then into 3 (10cm) so that we had more material to build a somewhat strong frame.We also used the smaller pieces to fill up any gaps or to support any areas which we considered to be slightly weaker than the rest of the frame.

The process of standing the frame up and the adding any additional support beams to help it maintain balance and strength

Friday, 21 March 2014

The skeletal structural system that is a frame acts as a very basic building structure. A frame can either be a stand alone structure such as that of the Eiffel Tower or can be the basis or feature of other buildings of a solid or membrane structural system

Working with the flimsy material of the Balsa wood was a significant difference to that of working with the solid wood blocks in constructing the tower the week before.

We successfully (although somewhat uncertainly) erected our frame construction and were impressed at its ability to maintain itself even though it appeared to be somewhat unstable. It is clear that under any load, such as wind it would probably falter and due to its lack of foundational structure (connecting base) it would more than likely succumb to the load a fall over

Final images of the Frame with the some what ‘spiral’ diagonal supports standing alone at a height of just under 3 meters.

Friday, 21 March 2014

GLOSSARYLOAD PATH- How the weight of the load is distributed throughout a structure and transferred down into the ground

MASONRY- Stone, brick, concrete, hollow-tile, concrete block, or other similar building units or materials. Normally bonded together with mortar to form a wall.

COMPRESSION- An external force that acts upon material often ‘squishing’ its particles close together

REACTION FORCE- Equal and opposite to the applied force to create stability

POINT LOAD-

BEAM- Structural mechanism that acts as a horizontal load bearer

STRUCTURAL JOINT-

STABILITY-

TENSION- External Load pulling on the members separating particles

FRAME- A basic structure forming the skeleton of any object to ensure stability and equal weight distribution

BRACING- additional support to particular areas of a frame allowing the structure the ability to stabilise greater forces

COLUMN- Load bearing free standing structural mechanism

Friday, 21 March 2014

REFERENCES

READINGS TAKEN FROM THE WEEKLY GUIDES http://issuu.com/envs10003/docs/week_01_guide

https://issuu.com/envs10003/docs/week_02_guide/2?e=8943534/7032196

CHING.F.D.K (2008) BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ILLUSTRATED (4TH EDITION), CANADA, JOHN WILEY & SONS INC. Used to construction definitions and mind maps.

Friday, 21 March 2014