Some lessons are only learned from mistakes but, it’s much cheaper to learn from someone else’s mistakes than to have to do so from your own. Drawing on over fifty years of working with concrete structures, Robin Whittle examines the problems which he has seen occur and shows how they could have been avoided.
The first and largest part of the book tells the stories of a number of cases where things have gone wrong with concrete structures. Each case is analyzed to identify its cause and how it might have been prevented. It then looks at how failures in structural modelling can lead to big problems if they are not identified before construction is undertaken. Beyond this it examines how contract arrangements can encourage or prevent problems in the designing and building processes. It concludes with an examination of the role research and development in preventing failures.
By identifying the differences between shoddy economizations and genuine efficiency savings, this book offers savings in the short term which won’t be at the expense of a structure’s long-term performance. Invaluable reading if you’re designing or building concrete structures and want to avoid problems which could be expensive or embarrassing further down the line.
Author(s): Robin Whittle
Publisher: CRC Press
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: xiv, 134
City: Boca Raton
Tags: Промышленное и гражданское строительство;Строительные конструкции;Железобетонные и каменные конструкции;
Content: Failures due to Design Errors Edge Beam and Column Connection Concrete Truss Circular Ramps to Car Park Transfer Beam with Eccentric Loading Early Thermal Effects Secondary Effects of Prestressing Temperature Effects on Long-Span Hybrid Structure Loading for Flat Slab Analysis Precast Concrete Car Park Arch Floor Precast Concrete Stairflights Shear Studs on Steel Column to Support Concrete Slab Piled Raft for Tower Block Floating Pontoon for Residential Building Precast Column Joint Detail Problems and Failures due to Errors in Structural Modelling Reinforced Concrete Transfer Truss Modelling Rigid Links Assessing Model Limits and Limitations Empirical Methods Initial Sizing of Slabs Analysis of Flat Slabs with Finite Element Programs Scale Effects Failures due to Inappropriate Extrapolation of Code of Practice Clauses Cooling Towers Design Bending Moments Piles with High Strength Reinforcement Shear Capacity of Deep Sections Failures due to Misuse of Code of Practice Clauses Flat Slab and Two-Way Slab Behaviour Ribbed Slab Supported on Broad Beam Car Park Columns Problems and Failures due to Inadequate Assessment of Critical Force Paths Heavily Loaded Nibs Shear Wall with Holes and Corner Supports Design of Boot Nibs Problems and Failures due to Poor Detailing Concrete Offshore Platform Assembly Hall Roof University Building Roof Minimum Reinforcement and Cracking Precast Concrete Panel Building Footbridge Problems and Failures due to Inadequate Understanding of Materials' Properties Changes over Time Rebending of Reinforcement Tack Welding of Reinforcement High Alumina Cement Calcium Chloride Alkali-Silica Reaction Lightweight Aggregate Concrete Problems and Failures due to Poor Construction Flat Slab Construction for Hotel Steel Piles Supporting Block of Flats Shear Cracks in Precast T Units Cantilever Balconies to Block of Flats Precast Concrete Tank Car Park Cracking of Offshore Platform during Construction Spalling of Load Bearing Mullions Two-Way Spanning Slab Chimney Flue for Coal-Fired Power Station Problems and Failures due to Poor Management Column-Slab Joint Placing of Precast Units Weak Aggregate Concrete in Chimney Problems and Failures due to Poor Construction Planning Power Station on River Thames Tower Block Problems and Failures due to Deliberate Malpractice Floor with Excessive Deflection Piles for Large Structure In Situ Columns Supporting Precast Building Problems Arising from the Procurement Process Effects of Different Forms of Contracts Workmanship Checking Construction Contributions of Research and Development toward Avoidance of Failures Links between Practice and Research Flat Slab Behaviour Span and Effective Depth Ratios for Slabs Beam and Column Joints Tension Stiffening of Concrete References Index
Abstract: "Foreword Errare humanum est .... We structural engineers are human and so have made a number of errors over the years resulting in narrow escapes, badly performing structures, and even fatal collapses. But as Seneca continues ... sed perseverare diabolicum, we must not repeat our errors. To avoid this means that we must learn from our past mistakes; we must know what went wrong and why. Some of the lessons from our past errors get embodied in clauses in codes of practice, but many do not, and the collective memory of the profession tends to fade as the generation of engineers who learnt from the mishaps and catastrophes retires. Past books on the subject of structural failures tended to deal with the general causes of failures and methods of investigation, illustrated with the more spectacular examples. However, details of some failures that have not made the headlines, but nevertheless hold important lessons, are hard to find or may not even be in the public domain. In the past, Robin Whittle and I worked together at Arup R&D on a variety of problems of concrete structures. Some of these arose from failures, and others were encountered when forestalling undesirable outcomes of the enthusiasm--untempered by experience--of some of our younger colleagues. Robin was also in close contact with researchers at the now sadly defunct Cement & Concrete Association, the Polytechnic of Central London, and the universities of Leeds, Durham, and Birmingham, and so was privy to much of the background for the initial draft and subsequent revisions of"
