Modernisation, Mechanisation and Industrialisation of Concrete Structures

Kim S. Elliott, Zuhairi Abd. Hamid, Kim S. Elliott, Zuhairi Abd. Hamid

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781118876497
• eBook ISBN: 9781118876510
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Civil Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Modernisation, Mechanisation and Industrialisation of Concrete Structures discusses the manufacture of high quality prefabricated concrete construction components, and how that can be achieved through the application of developments in concrete technology, information modelling and best practice in design and manufacturing techniques.

Part 1
Modernisation of Precast Concrete Structures

Chapter 1
Historical and Chronological Development of Precast Concrete Structures

Dr Kim S. Elliott

Precast Consultant, Derbyshire, UK

An overview of the four major phases in the twentieth-century history of precast concrete construction: developing years; mass production and standardisation; lightweight structures and longer spans; thermal mass design, shows how the beneficial issues in each period has lead to the present-day movement towards modernisation, mechanisation and industrialisation (MMI) and the interface with industrialised building systems (IBS). Timelines of market share, building height, span/depth, thermal efficiency, and hybrid and mixed precast construction are drawn through the phases from 1920 to 2010. The benefits of composite and continuous construction for prestressed concrete beams and slabs have decreased the mass of the floor construction by about 30% over the past 25 years. The conclusion shows how MMI serves and suits the demand for prefabrication of concrete-framed structures.

1.1 The five periods of development and optimisation

From a historical background, the prefabrication of concrete and the development of precast concrete structures for residential, commercial and industrial buildings have passed through four major periods:

1. 1. The Developing Years (1920–1940) including the technological breakthrough of prestressed concrete (psc) and the further advancement of reinforced concrete (rc) in terms of improvements in the strength of materials, the optimisation of design and durability and resilience of the resulting elements. Figure 1.1 shows the first use of precast concrete, called ferro-cement at the time, in a multi-storey building.
2. 2. The Mass Production and Standardisation Period (1945–c.1970) involved rebuilding residential post-war Europe, as well as developing south east Asia, using mainly wall panel construction (Figure 1.2), and semi-automated floor slabs such as prestressed long-line extruded or slip-formed hollow core units (hcu), eventually leading to the development of modularised “national building frames”, for example, in Figure 1.3.
3. 3. The Lightweight and Long-span Period (1970–2000), driven by the need to produce leaner structures with greater span-to-depth ratios by using composite, continuous and integrated designs in hybrid (precast with insitu concrete) and mixed materials (e.g., precast with steel, timber and masonry). Figure 1.4 shows total prefabrication of a steel frame supporting prestressed hcu having a span-depth ratio of about 40, and floor area-to-structural depth ratio of nearly
   
   .
4. 4. The Thermal Mass Period (2000 to date) responding to the demand for the sustainable and environmentally advantageous used of factory engineered concrete and off-site construction philosophies, energy storage, improving admittance of the building fabric and lowering transmittance (U-values) requirements. Figures 1.5 and 1.6 show the use of so-called “FES”, active fabric energy storage in the precast concrete elements.
   There is now a new era, although some would argue this is already established in many countries, taking in the beneficial aspects of the latter day periods towards the increasingly popular trend for automated manufacture and off-site prefabrication:
5. 5. The Automated Period involving the modernisation, mechanisation and industrialisation (MMI) for the design, detailing and manufacture of concrete structures. On top of this we may ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• About the Editors
• Notes on Contributors
• Preface
• Part 1: Modernisation of Precast Concrete Structures
• Part 2: Mechanisation and Automation of the Production of Concrete Elements
• Part 3: Industrialisation of Concrete Structures
• Index
• End User License Agreement