The most popular and common construction structural material Timber, Steel and Concrete has their own pros and cons. But the industry experts have also their own opinion about it. Sourceable.net has come up with great article published by Justin McGar. We have brought you an excerpt.
Timber
The chief executive of the timber development association Andrew Dunn opines, Timber has no such disadvantages but sometime creation of specific design may lead to be a huge design challenge.
The qualities of timber are well recognize and predictable now. People are started to believe that fear of fire or durability is no longer existed.
The timber use determined by its structural type, location and service life – but generally it is very lightweight, flexible of offsite manufacturing and cost effective.
Its main market is in short residential buildings but there is a rising interest in the mid-rise sector for apartments, office buildings as well as school buildings.
The Pitch: The timber’s load per unit weight to strengthen concrete and steel structure shows the high structural efficiency. Many timbers are either physically hard-wearing or can be easily treated to make very hard-wearing.
Wood with energy from the sun and carbon engrossed from the air (from the CO2 in the air). Half the dry mass of timber is carbon engrossed from the air.
Timber used inside provides a healthier environment for dweller as it helps maintain a better relative humidity. The enormous preponderance of structural timber is sourced from sustainably managed forests and plantations.
The Treet or ‘the tree' (in picture) shows how far timber has come. A 14-storey (49-metre) apartment building in Bergen designed to comply with the Passivhaus sustainability standard. When completed it will be the tallest modern timber apartment structure in the world.
Concrete
The Concrete has been used for structures since Ancient Greece and Rome. Marianne Fourie of the International Federation for Structural Concrete believes technological development and modernism over the centuries have polished its use. The structural concrete today permits engineers and architects to design, plan and achieve outstanding buildings that are as huge as they can be artistic. The advancement has also led to the more extensive use of pre-cast concrete, which presents great benefits of speed and cost of construction.
In the bigger edifices, such as tall buildings and bridges, nothing can be comparable to concrete. There are immense chances to add other tough materials to the concrete. The structural concrete is not only used in combination with other resources but also fit in with them as with fibre-reinforced concrete. It has ecological benefit, durability and less waste. The Centro Ovale concrete shell (Chiasso, Switzerland), exemplifies the adaptability of the material, while the Bella Sky Hotel (Copenhagen, Denmark) is an example of the innovative use of pre-cast concrete.
Steel
Steelwork in main construction is on the increasing as contractors become more in tune to the benefits of using the material in easing onsite risks, quick development for previous returns and environmental benefits, believes Alan Marshall, communications manager at the Australian Steel Institute. The US-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recently reported in a study that the number of composite multi-level projects over 200 metres that characteristically includes a steel frame with metal-decking, increased 54 per cent across the globe in 2014.
Speed and efficiency: The benefits are many liker computer modeling on CNC equipment, structurally efficient, easily fabricated in controlled conditions driven by 3D modeling and CNC equipment, test certificate is always available here
Reducing onsite risks: Less number of the workers onsite where approximately 10-20 per cent is necessary for concrete connection reducing the accident liability.
Sustainability and waste reduction: The waste clearance is considerably less than for a concrete building here. More than 95 per cent of all structural steel is recoverable and reusable or recycled.
The Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain,
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Published By
Rajib Dey
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