A comparative study of site-adapt and aci standard design methods for structural design of rc buildings in kandahar, Afghanistan

Abstract

Design criteria for reinforced concrete structures consist of safety, economy, functionality, and aesthetic. Site-adapt or assumption method is a semi-engineering practice for the designing of reinforced concrete structures in Kandahar, Afghanistan that relies on adapting earlier designed projects into the new ones. It is obvious that application of this approach influences safety and economy of constructions, therefore, consequences of site-adapt practice are studied through comparing it with ACI standard design method. A school building that had been designed by site-adapt method was selected as the case study and redesigned as per ACI 318M-11 code using STAAD PRO and STAAD RCDC software. Lastly, differentiating cost estimation of materials that show the variability due to the application of these two approaches by cost analysis. From the findings of the comparison, all the structural members that had been designed via site-adapt method resulted in overdesign condition. Other than that, the cost analysis of both approaches proved the costliness of the site-adapt design in which the increments in the expenses of the school building are 37% due to steel cost and 25% due to concrete.