New applications of hollow-core components in housing, administrative and public housing

Abstract

Standard prestressed hollow-core slabs have many advantages as construction members while being relatively very low in cost. The principal advantages include the ease of mass production, a small cross-sectional area, light weight, and flat surfaces. In addition, the slabs have the advantage s of concrete, precasting and prestressing. The only specifications which make hollow-core components unsuitable for wall members are their lack of weight and mass, their inability to be used as long members because of the limited distance between the floor-to-floor height, and, in some cases, insufficient insulating qualities. This thesis recommends a practical and economical system for the structural use of hollow-core components which have been modified with two other additional structural members - a continuous precast "L" beam and a precast support panel. This system will allow a high degree of standardization and an additional saving in the total cost of the equipment and formworks. Most of all, the wall members have the advantages of precast prestressed hollow-core slabs and their low cost. The new system's applications are mainly directed towards housing, administrative and public buildings. A design example is also introduced and analyzed in terms of possible variations in area of the individual units and the total cost of the building . The latter case shows that the total cost of structure per square-foot for the recommended system is considerably lower than the other construction types.