Week  9  Logbook  Knowledge  Map:  

Week 9 E-Learning: Construction detailing Movement joint: Three types of movement joints: • Compressed • As installed • Elongated

(Compressed movement joint)  The  design  of  compressed  joint  is  based  on  compression  seal  technology,  ensures  that  the  side  walls  of  the  profile  remain  vertical  and  press  against  the  gap  walls  while  the  epoxy  adhesive  sets.  (Rubber  &  

Engineering,  2014)  The  compressed  movement  joint  is  applied  in  the  joint  gap,  for  example,  the  interspace  between  two  adjacent  bricks.    Expansion  joint  is  an  assembly  designed  to  safely   absorb   the  heat-­‐induced   expansion  and  contraction  of  construction  materials,  to  holds  parts  together.  

 The  above  sketches  illustrate  three  different  type  of  movement  joint;  they  are  movement  joint  as  installed,  compressed  movement  joint  and  expansionary  

movement  joint.  Generally,  they  are  pretty  useful  to  stabilize  and  strengthen  the  structure,  such  as  the  expansion  joint  for  brick  walls.    Health  and  safety  issues:  Health  and  safety  must  be  taken  into  account  into  constructing  process,  because  safe  and  comfort  are  the  major  aspects  of  construction.    Stairs  and  some  relevant  facilities  can  be  seen  as  a  good  example  of  this  issue.  • The  edge  of  stair  slab  may  be  turned  

up  to  form  solid  railing.  • Handrail  and  guardrail  requirement    

From  the  above  sketch,  the  slab  is  very  important,  not  only  because  of  structural  consideration,  but  also  safety  issues.      The  importance  of  slabs  will  be  more  obvious  in  spiral  stairs,  since  occupants  may  likely  to  fall  down  after  turning  different  directions.    

   Aging  gracefully:  • Copper  • Timber  The  above  two  materials  are  able  to  last  in  

a  relatively  long  period,  but  the  types  of  decay  are  totally  different.    Copper  is  a  metal  material,  as  time  goes,  it  might  be  oxidized  without  being  well  cared  under  negative  condition  such  as  place  with  large  abundant  of  moisture.    

 When  copper  is  oxidized,  it  will  undergo  two  processes.  First  of  all,  copper  will  be  oxidized  into  Cu+  ion,  and  the  color  will  be  light  brown.  After  that,  it  keeps  oxidizing  and  becomes  Cu2+ion,  and  the  color  will  be  pale  green  in  a  certain  period  of  time.    Timber  is  a  natural  material,  which  can  be  used  for  structural  members  or  veneer  

members.  However,  special  treatment  is  also  required  if  we  expect  to  use  it  for  longer  period  of  time.  

 

Under  rainy  condition  or  exposure  of  light,  several  cracks  may  appear  on  the  surface  of  timber,  it  will  have  serous  impact  on  the  strength  and  stability  of  timber.  to  avoid  this  consequence,  the  followings  are  different  treatment  and  solutions:  • Water-­‐borne  preservatives  (e.g.  

Copper  Chrome  Arsenate  (CCA),  Alkaline  Copper  Quaternary  (ACQ),  Copper  azole)  -­‐  which  are  carried  into  the  wood  mixed  in  water.  

• Light  organic  solvent-­‐borne  preservatives  (commonly  called  LOSPs)  -­‐  which  are  carried  into  the  wood  mixed  in  a  light  organic  solvent  such  as  white  spirit.  

• Envelope  treatments.    Synthetic  pyrethroids  (e.g.  bifenthrin,  permethrin)  dissolved  in  water  or  oil  such  as  linseed  oil  and  are  applied  by  spraying  or  dipping  to  cover  the  timber  in  the  preservative.  

• Oil-­‐borne  preservatives,  which  are  carried  into  the  wood  as  oil  or  mixed  in  oil.  Used  primarily  for  heavy-­‐duty  construction  and  in  the  marine  environment  including  utility  poles,  rail  sleepers  and  marine  piles.  (Treated  Timber,  2014)  

 Repairable  surface  &  resistance  to  damage:    Metal  edge  rim:

 Some  edge  can  be  made  from  metal  instead  of  timber,  because  it  is  relatively  resistant  to  damage.  Metal  materials  are  much  stronger  than  most  timber  materials,  so  that  low  costs  are  required  for  repairing  those  members.    Cleanable  surface:  • Butt  cove  • Straight  base  • Top  set  cove  • Cove  and  cap  strips    The  design  of  cove  skirting  for  example,  is  easy  for  occupants  to  do  the  cleaning,  while  it  is  difficult  for  dust  to  be  

accumulated.    Maintenance  access:  

 If  there  is  damage  occurring  in  some  specific  area,  the  maintenance  access  should  allow  the  broken  members  to  be  easily  replaced.  For  example,  in  the  kitchen  area,  the  tiles  could  be  lifted  up  and  replaced  simply  instead  of  replacing  the  whole  part.      

Constructability  and  other  consideration:     If  the  construction  process  is  difficult,  it  may  result  in  higher  costs,  so  three  aspects  should  be  considered:  • It  should  be  easy  to  assembled.  • Details  should  be  forgiving  for  some  

inaccuracies  • Use  the  construction  facilities  

efficiently.  (Don’t  try  and  design  if  some  are  available  in  the  shop.)  

                           

Group  Site  visit:    Location:  127-­‐129  Murray  Street,  Caulfield  Date:  Wednesday  14th  May  Time:  8  to  9:30am    According  to  the  constructing  processes  and  details,  the  site  we  visited  was  designed  as  an  apartment  building.  It  is  straightforward  to  understand  the  structural  principles  and  material  selections  by  visiting  different  parts  of  the  building.  

 

 

Basement  (Underground  Car  Park):    The  picture  shows  the  entrance  of  underground  garage:  

   When  a  construction  process  was  started,  it  was  important  to  dig  a  big  hole  and  finish  the  foundation.  After  that,  basement  construction  could  start  after  retaining  wall  was  completed.  

 It  is  found  that  piles  and  holes  were  present  in  the  retaining  wall;  they  were  placed  between  the  wall  and  soil  and  covered  by  sprayed  concrete.  In  order  to  prevent  the  soil  water  from  penetrating  inside  the  concrete  wall,  the  waterproof  plastics  were  also  placed  between  concrete  walls  and  soils.  Columns  in  the  basement:    Columns  in  the  car  park  are  relatively  thicker  compared  with  the  temporary  steel  columns  on  the  ground  floor,  as  they  are  responsible  to  support  all  life  and  dead  load  and  transfer  it  all  the  way  to  the  

foundation.  Those  columns  also  indicated  the  correct  position  of  columns  above  them,  because  all  columns  must  be  on  the  same  vertical  line.  

 Besides,  those  concrete  columns  also  had  reinforced  bars  in  the  middle,  in  order  to  increase  both  tension  and  compression.    

 

The  following  is  the  load-­‐transferring  diagram  of  the  whole  structure:  

 

The  load  will  transfer  directly  to  columns  all  the  way  to  the  foundation  if  no  beams  exist.      Concrete  slabs:  The  structural  of  this  building  was  special,  because  it  was  designed  with  concrete  slab  only,  without  beams.    

 

One  advantage  of  this  design  is  that  it  increases  the  height  for  each  floor.  However,  the  span  of  concrete  slab  is  normally  less  than  8  meters,  otherwise  columns  would  be  critical  to  support  the  load  above  them.  

Draining  point  on  the  ground  floor:    On  the  ground  floor,  we  could  find  several  draining  points  connected  with  sewage  pipes  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Those  draining  points  indicate  the  location  of  bathrooms.  The  following  picture  shows  two  of  the  draining  points:    

 Windowsills:    There  is  another  special  design  about  the  

window  sills,  in  this  building  window  sills  are  all  sitting  down  below  the  concrete  slab,  so  that  the  height  difference  equals  to  the  thickness  of  window  frames,  therefore  it  is  a  reasonable  design  from  aesthetic  perspectives.    

 It  can  be  clearly  explained  by  the  following  sketch:  

 The  thickness  of  windowsill  is  shown  as  the  shaded  area  in  the  above  sketch,  which  is  equal  to  the  thickness  of  concrete  slab.    Labor  costs:  Labor  costs  take  up  the  most  spending  of  expenditure,  which  accounts  for  about  70%.  That  is  the  reason  why  we  only  saw  few  workers  working  in  the  site,  unlike  cheaper  labor  force  in  Asian  or  African  countries.    

Glossary:  Aluminum  sandwich  panel:  Aluminum  sandwich  panel  is  a  type  of  flat  panel  that  consists  of  two  thin  aluminium  sheets  bonded  to  a  non-­‐aluminum  core.    Bending:    Bending  characterizes  the  behavior  of  a  slender  structural  element  subjected  to  an  external  load  applied  perpendicularly  to  a  longitudinal  axis  of  the  element.    Skirting:  It  is  the  board  covering  the  lowest  part  of  an  interior  wall.  Its  purpose  is  to  cover  the  joint  between  the  wall  surface  and  the  floor.    Composite  beams:  Composite  beams  are  the  beams  that  made  up  of  composite  materials.    Cornice:    Cornice  is  generally  any  horizontal  decorative  molding  that  crowns  a  building  

or  furniture  element.                                                  

Referencing  lists:  1. Compression  seal.  Exterior  Floor  &  

Parking  Structure  Expansion  Joints  (2014).  Retrieved  from:  http://sweets.construction.com/Manufacturer/Nystrom-­‐Building-­‐Products-­‐NST1934/products/Exterior-­‐Floor-­‐-­‐-­‐Parking-­‐Structure-­‐Expansion-­‐Joints-­‐NST57797-­‐F  

2. Copper  Bars  beats  LiteCoin  in  per-­‐coin  value.  Cryptocoins  news  (September  11st,  2013).  Retrieved  from:  http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/copper-­‐bars-­‐beats-­‐litecoin-­‐per-­‐coin-­‐value/2013/09/11  

3. Exterior  aluminum  spiral  stairs  and  balcony  rails.  Raber  Industries  (2007).  Retrieved  from:  http://raberindustries.com/spiral_stairs.htm  

4. Metal  Edge  Rim,  Metal  Tile  Edging  (2014).  Retrieved  from:  http://www.metaltileedging.com/metal-­‐tile-­‐edging/metal-­‐edge-­‐trim/  

5. Rubber  &  Engineering.  WIZFLEX  Compression  Seal  Series  “WZ”  (2014).  Retrieved  from:  http://www.granor.com.au/products/expansion-­‐joints-­‐small-­‐movements/wizflex-­‐series-­‐wz  

6. Treated  Timber,  the  Australian  Timber  Database  (2014).  Retrieved  from:  http://www.timber.net.au/index.php/treated-­‐timber.html