Stage of construction: An essential consideration in designing reinforced concrete building structures

Abstract

This paper analyzes the potential influence of the construction process on the serviceability stage of the structure of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. For this, a number of cases of buildings erected by habitual construction processes were simulated by a finite elements model, including and excluding the construction process. The shoring–clearing–striking method was seen the least harmful to the long-term behavior, but even so maximum loads during construction exceeded the design loads. On the other hand, shoring–reshoring–striking procedure had construction loads similar to the design loads but worse long-term behavior. In view of the results obtained, it is of the utmost importance to consider the construction phase when designing building structures. Some practical recommendations are given to improve the consideration of the construction process in the design as well as to take into account the long-term behavior of structures due to load history during construction.