rachael mcvea- log book
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Interim SubmissionTRANSCRIPT
LOG BOOK
RACHAEL MCVEA
636656
WEEK 1 07/03/2014
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Considerations:
Strength- weak or strong
Stiffness- stiff, flexible, stretchy or floppy
Shape- mono dimensional, bi dimensional or tri dimensional.
Material behaviours- isotropic or anisotropic.
Economy and sustainability- travel, efficiency.
Structural Forces
Force- Any influence that produces a change in the
shape or movement of a body. (Newton, Clare, Basic
Structural Forces, 12/03/2014)
Tension Forces- Stretch and elongate the material.
Compression Forces- Shortens the material, opposite
to tension.
Load Paths- The path a load takes to distribute the
force evenly to the receptors. This is the most direct
route and is met with a reaction force that is equal and
opposite. (Newton, Clare, Load Path Diagrams,
11/03/2014)
3 FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION
1: MASS CONSTRUCTION
2: FRAME CONSTRUCTION
3: TENSILE CONSTRUCTION
MASS CONSTRUCTION
Static structures, supported by the foundation of the Earth, built with generally heavy duty
materials.
Two types of Mass Construction:
Small Module- Concrete blocks,
bricks, mud/clay, adobe, rammed
earth.
Large Module- Precast concrete.
Figure 1: Irving, Mark, 8/03/2014
Strengths
Small Module
Creates a bond, which in turn spreads the load of the mass, this bond makes the structure
stronger.
Allows shape to be developed in the structure by use of smaller materials.
Create patterns, ultimately the smaller module materials allow for more flexible creativity
and design.
Large Module
Faster in the sense of putting the building together.
Cheaper; reducing construction time on site as more trades can work at the one time and
are not held up by time consuming materials.
Quicker to make and erect.
Made off site and brought to site ready to be used.
Limitations
Small Module
Time consuming, slow process to put a wall of bricks up.
Requires scaffolding and ladders once the height of the construction exceeds a human.
Holds up other trades on site, hence costing more money.
Hard to transport large loads of them around the site without needing special equipment
Large Module
Very limited designs, curves are difficult and expensive.
Incredibly heavy, requiring special transport to site as well as a crane on site to erect.
Site Analysis- Process of studying contextual forces that may influence the construction of the land
and the building to which will be erected there, its shape, lay out, orientation. (Ching, Frances D.K,
Building Constructed Illustrated, 2008)
Important definitions
DDA- Disability and discrimination act.
PPE- Personal protection equipment.
UB- Universal beam
UC- Universal column
Pfc- Parallel flange channel
Bricks
Pressed
Clay pressed into moulds and placed in an oven, this
however created variations in the bricks because of
the different temperatures within the oven. E.g. a
brick in the middle would be baked more
thoroughly than a brick towards the edge. “Frog,”
divot in the middle, helps to increase the depth of
the mortar, assisting with the joining process.
Extruded
Made by forcing a bar through the clay, which reduces the amount of clay used to produce the
bricks, therefore they’re not just cheaper but create a cohesive bond between bricks when mortared
in. (Readers Digest, 11/03/2014)
Forces Considered in Construction
Dead - Static, e.g. furniture.
Live- Humans
Gravity
Wind
Water in the ground
Seismic
CLASS TASK
DESCRIPTION: BUILD A TOWER AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE,
MUST HAVE A DOORWAY FOR THE PLASTIC DINOSAUR
TO FIT THROUGH AND AN ENCLOSED CEILING.
MATERIALS: SMALL MDF BLOCKS.
Fig 2: Irving, Mark, 07/03/2014
As a group we
figured out how
many blocks
high the
dinosaur was,
telling us how
high our door
would need to
be. Our group
discussed the
possible shape
and structure,
and after
dismissing a
square base, as
we were not sure how we would enclose
the roof, and dismissing a pyramid as that
would not give us the height we desired,
we all agreed on a round cylindrical shape.
We began construction, creating that cohesive “bond” of bricks by laying them via Stretcher bond, as
this creates the best bend strength (Boral). We left a space for the doorway to fit and figured further
up in our construction we would be able to slowly bring the bricks in closer till they eventually met.
As we reached about 7 bricks high we came to realise that a single layered wall would be
very
unstable and could easily topple over. We needed a firm foundation for the tower to gain
the required height we wanted. Therefore, we began again, this time creating a double
layered wall, with that same bond however. However, we did aim in the future to slowly
bring the bricks in, not just to close the doorway but to allow us to enclose the roof also.
We knew if we did this procedure too early the tower wouldn’t reach the height we
desired and wouldn’t have a stable base to sit upon.
As we got higher we very slowly brought the entrance bricks closer together, inching them a few
millimetres inwards every new layer. We were easily able to slip a few individual bricks in the cracks
to finally join the doorway together. This needed to be strengthened above the doorway before we
could bring the bricks in to create our roof; therefore we made sure there were at least 10 layers of
bricks above the doorway, so it would not weaken under the above weight. The tower started
reaching higher and higher and we began to now slowly inch the bricks inwards in order to be able
to conceal the roof. As was done with the doorway, we slowly each row brought the bricks in, only
millimetres, to allow the cylinder to get smaller.
Time began to run out on us so we quickly worked to ensure our tower had a roof upon
it. This meant bringing the blocks in and getting it as high as possible. If time had not have been a
restraint, I believe the solid base of our structure would’ve allowed us to extend our tower to the
ceiling, however it became thin when we needed to create height and enclose the roof and this
section would not have been able to extend to the ceiling. By the end our tower reached to about
my chest and was incredibly stable because of the foundations we had created. The only reason it
became a thin tower was to get that roof on top that the brief had asked for, otherwise the thick
solid beginnings could’ve taken us to all sorts of heights.
OTHER GROUPS WORK
Other groups in the Constructing
Environments class took quite different
approaches. Some were similar to our group
in a round structure; others however chose
square foundations and aimed for high and
skinny. Some just went for the artistic
approach, however all stood up. The square
structure had an incredibly solid base, but as the tower was tall and thin, it was vulnerable to the
forces. The artistic structure looked quite weak and fragile and didn’t quite get the height required
or achieve a closed ceiling. And the structure of similar stature to ours stood firm, creating height as
well as a closed ceiling.
DEMOLITION
Our solid structure allowed us to pull of huge amounts of blocks without the structure collapsing,
literally like a game of Jenga, we were able to remove blocks from all areas and our structure still
stood up. We removed that whole outer wall and were left with another, thinner, but still quite
sturdy structure.
WEEK 2 14/03/2014
CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS
A building is a combination of a number of systems and subsystems that must coordinate with one
another as well as with the building as a whole. These physical systems organise the ordering and
construction of a building. (Ching, Frances D.K, Building Construction Illustrated, 2008)
Enclosure system- how you protect a building from the elements.
Structural System - Frame, column & beam, mass construction.
Service system- Anything providing amenity to the building; electrical, mechanical,
hydraulics
ENCLOSURE SYSTEM
Shell or envelope of a building, consisting of the roof, exterior walls, windows and doors. (Ching,
Frances D.K, Building Construction Illustrated, 2008)
SERVICE SYSTEMS
Provide essential services to the building; water supply, sewage disposal, heating and air-
conditioning, electrical system controls, vertical transportation systems (lifts), fire-fighting systems
and perhaps recycle and waste disposal systems. (Ching, Frances D.K, Building Construction
Illustrated, 2008)
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
SOLID- Early buildings, mud, bricks, stone. Compression arches.
SURFACE- Sydney Opera House.
SKELETAL- Frames, efficient.
MEMBRANE- Tension, shade sails, sports stadiums.
HYBRID- Structural frames covered in different materials.
(Newton, Clare, Structural Systems and Forms, 14/03/2014)
Structural Systems:
Primary member- large beam which spans the shortest distance.
Secondary member- Rafters, run perpendicular to primary
member.
The more distance you cover with a beam the wider and heavier
the beam needs to become, this can cause issues of being too
heavy. To overcome this you turn the beam into a truss to
lighten it.
Considerations
Performance requirements- structural, fire resistance, comfort, protection from elements,
compatibility, easy maintenance.
Aesthetic qualities- proportion, colour, surface qualities.
Economic efficiencies- budget, affordability (initial cost and maintaining cost)
Environmental impacts- embodied energy, constructability efficiency.
(Newton, Clare, Structural Systems and Forms, 14/03/2014)
ESD= Environmental Sustainable Design
Examples:
Recyclability- Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Carbon footprint- Measure of greenhouse gases used.
Local materials
Thermal mass -Use of a material to store energy. Eg. Concrete slab.
Water harvesting -Collection and use of rain water.
Insulation
Wind energy
Solar power
Material efficiency
Night air purging - bringing outside air inside in the evening to
remove stale air
Newton, Clare, ESD and Selecting Materials, 14/03/2014
Structural joins
Every load must have a responding force of equal strength.
Roller joint- Only resists vertical forces
Pin joint- resists both vertical and horizontal
Fixed joint- Resists vertical, horizontal and rotational forces.
(Cantilever- one point of support. E.g. a tree or wing of a plane.
Embodied Energy= How much energy is in the item. Moving it, maintaining it,
running of it, getting rid of it.
Base Metals- Elemental (periodic) E.g. aluminium.
Alloy metals- Combinations. E.g. bronze= copper + zinc
Aluminium is stronger than steel and lighter but is expensive and requires a lot
of embodied energy.
Fig 3: Newton, Clare, Structural Connections,
14/03/2014
CLASS TASK
DESCRIPTION: BUILD A TOWER OUT OF SELF-CUT BALSA WOOD STRIPS.
Using our 43 strips of balsa wood to develop the highest tower possible proved harder than first
thought. The balsa is flimsy and easily bent and snapped, this lead us to choose a triangle based
design that would allow us to have a sturdier structure and high structure.
As we had just learnt that day, trussing was an effective way of stabilising a building, thus we
implemented this into our design, to reduce those bends and snapping of the balsa. The use of
masking tape to join the balsa led to many difficulties also, it was heavy and difficult to use on such
small pieces of balsa, leading to breaks and messy joins. The base developed strongly, however as
we began to run out of balsa we came to realise the higher we got the more unstable it would
become after we triangulated the roof, leaving us not much room for movement.
In a last bid attempt to extend our
tower to the ceiling we created a
very long and very thin piece of
balsa which was stuck to the top of
our building and extended almost
to the ceiling. If we had not of
finished the base off so soon by
adding a triangular roof we may have been able to create a
sturdier structure that stood as high as it did as an actual
structure. In the end our structure did extend quite high but
officially the singular pieces of balsa don’t count as a
structure, next time a higher and sturdier foundation
would’ve enabled us to continue building a “structure” as
high as the thin balsa. The thin balsa also didn’t prove strong,
swaying in the slightest of movement. Out in the elements it
would’ve snapped off very quickly.
OTHER GROUPS
A common theme of most groups was the idea of
trussing their structures to strengthen them. The
group with thicker balsa was more successful in this.
The group with short and thick balsa however created
a very unstable structure that wouldn’t stand on the
floor.
RESOURCES
www.readersdigest.com.au
http://www.boral.com.au/images/common/clay_bricks_pavers/pdfs/1_307.pdf
Ching, Frances D.K, Building Construction Illustrated, 2008
Newton, Clare, Constructing Environments ELearning, 2014.