Stage of construction: An essential consideration

What is it about?

This paper analyses the potential influence of the construction process on the serviceability stage of the structure of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. For this, a number of cases of buildings erected by habitual construction processes were simulated by a finite elements model (FEM), including and excluding the construction process. The Shoring-Clearing-Striking method (SCS) was seen the least harmful to the long-term behaviour, but even so maximum loads during construction exceeded the design loads. On the other hand, Shoring-Reshoring-Striking (SRS) procedure had construction loads similar to the design loads but worse long-term behaviour. In view of the results obtained, it is of the utmost importance to consider the construction phase when designing building structures. Some practical recommendations are given to improve the consideration of the construction process in the design as well as to take into account the long-term behaviour of structures due to load history during construction.

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Why is it important?

It is essential to consider the construction phase when designing a structure to avoid seriously affecting the structure’s in-service conditions (comfort, short- and long-term deflections and cracks), durability (cracks in early-age concrete due to overloaded slabs) and safety (loads on slabs possibly higher than the design loads). The present work is the first step in the study of the effect of the construction process in RC buildings, considering linear elastic concrete behaviour. The authors of the study consider it important to include the non-linear behaviour of the concrete elements in a future line of work, in which even greater differences can be expected in terms of deflections than those obtained here.

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