Week 06 activity

WEEK 06 ACTIVITY: ‘STRUCTURAL CONCEPTS’  Description of activity The activity this week is to model the structural elements that construct the connection part of MSLE building. This activity is to help deeply understanding the structure in the three dimensional way. 

Process

We decided to make a 1:100 model. At first, we used tracing paper to trace down the plan which is 1:100 of the part we focused on so that we can make a model base on the tracing.

Lintel

B1 - UB

Load-bearing wall

B2 - PFC

Concrete Slab

At this stage, the main primary structural elements, concrete slab and load-bearing walls, are built using cardboard. The secondary structural elements are UB (universal beam), PFC (parallel flange channel) and lintel.They are all built by Balsa wood. In order to distinguish the them clearly, PFC parts are coloured by blue pen and lintel parts are coloured by red pen.

Load-bearing wall

Concrete Slab

B1 - UB B2 - PFC

Strip Footing

The two photos above analyse the model from different angles. The picture on the left shows that the universal beams actually go through the load-bearing wall and fixed joints are established to make the cantilever more stable. The photo on the right focus on the footing of the building. It is obvious that the footings are strip footings which spread the load into the soil. Since the soil quality are good, the footings do not go really further down in the ground which form the shallow foundation.

There are some secondary structures in the cantilever using materials like timbers to reinforce the stable of the structure. However, the detailed drawing of this part do not exist in the drawings we have so we do not know how they construct to connect each other. Basically, they form a net to bear the load.

Load-bearing wall Lintel

Purlins

B1 - UB

Bracing beam (roof level) B2 - PFC Concrete Slab

In this photo, roof structures are added.

Bracing beams and purlins are the main structure elements that compose the roof level. Bracing beams are used to reinforce the spaning between the two walls whereas purlins are used to reinforce the roof.

Purlins

Bracing beam (roof level)

B1 - UB

Lintel

Existing Roof

It is clearer in the picture above that purlins lie above the bracing beams. They are both made of Balsa in this model. In order to differentiate them, the bracing beams are coloured by black pen.

The existing roof is covered on the purlins as the finishes part.

The load-bearing wall on the other side was not made but similar concept to the load-bearing wall on this side.

ď Ź Reflection Before actually making the model, all the information is gained from the working drawings. Although the working drawings provide many general and detailed ideas of the building, how things are connected and work are more comprehensive when it comes to the making process. It promotes we to think about how the cantilever actual attach to the load-bearing wall and what kinds of joints are used in every connection.

LOAD PATH

Thess pictures show the load path in different angles.