REPORT

BUILDING COMPONENTS AND STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS & OUR SITE TRIP

SEVIM YAGMUR YUKSEL & ELIF BIRCESU YASAR

The construction site that we have visited for our research report, for our topic building components, has started 3 years ago, in Beştepe, Ankara. Çakıroğlu, Beştepe Home Office serves as office residences, which includes stores on front. The building is 15 stories high with the 3 basement floors. The completion of the rough construction has done in two and a half years total, and the details will be aimed to completed approximately in a year. In site, our main observation was on the main components of the load bearing structural systems, which are mainly columns, beams, slabs, and wall. The observation of site started from the basement, in which we observed vertical structural elements such as columns and walls, their working system against forces, what type of materials are used, load bearing components and other details like expansion joints. Then, we visited the residences and continued our research there. The working system of components like column drops, and the isolation partitions are mainly provided in residences. Finally, we visited the stores on front of the building, in which we observed the mezzanine floor components, which again related to our course topic building structural systems.

Starting with the basic structural elements of buildings; they mainly consist of columns, beams, walls, and slabs. Columns, posts, piers, and studs are the vertical linear members that are used within buildings. The horizontal members are beams, joists, girders, lintels, and slabs. The structural load system initially starts with slabs and floors, then beams, columns and foundation. Load bearing wall systems made of masonry materials such as stone, brick, mudbrick and CMU, linear materials, and panel systems. Main materials of skeleton/frame systems might consist of reinforced concrete, steel, and wood. Comparing these two systems, walls are carrying loads, get thicker from upper levels to lower levels and cannot be changed or widened in load bearing structures, while columns and beams are carrying loads, walls can be thinner and their location can be changed in skeleton structures. In load bearing structures, buildings cannot be taller than 4 to 5 stories high, includes compact spaces and foundation type is stripped or raft foundation. Buildings can be as high as skyscrapers; spaces are larger and foundation type is pad or any type of foundation in skeleton structures. It is possible to use both two structures in a building. Buildings must reach the structural equilibrium where all the forces are in balance. Due to excessive forces, horizontal-linear members may bend. In vertical-linear and vertical-planar members, post-type and wall-type members can fail due to buckling and crushing.

The observation of site and trip started with the 1^st basement floor, in which the rough constriction has completed. The vertical elements columns and walls were frequently in use in this area. In picture (A), one of the main vertical load bearing components, column is seen. As mentioned, the column receives load from the horizontal element slabs and beams and transfers it to the foundation. The material that is used is reinforced concrete, which consists of high-yield steel rebars inside. The component between the column and the slab is names as a column drop, which prevents the concrete from punching shear. In picture (B), it might be observed that the columns and the wall are structured are joint together, working as one. The foundation of these components is the same, bonded with tie roads inside. The materials for the walls are again reinforced concrete, the masonry wall is constructed for the lift area. In picture (C) the connection between the horizontal components slabs and beams, which co-working against loads together, can be seen. These components are working against the same horizontal loads, mentioned above. In picture (D) the beam joint system of the mezzanine floor of the store is seen, the relationship of the components is shown plainly. The beams are carrying the load and transferring them to foundation through walls and columns. In picture (E) a circular column in the residences is shown, the column works as same as the linear ones, yet the formwork is different. It might probably have an aesthetic purpose in the residences, again connected to the slabs/floors with a column drop. Again, in the picture, we noted the slabs are working as one-way slabs, since the residence have two openings in left and right, the only support is from two beams. Since the slabs are in between two supports, it is a one-way slab, illustrated briefly in picture (F).

Consequently, after the observation that we did in the construction site; we have seen the use of columns, walls, slabs, beams, reinforced concrete, high-yield steel rebars, column drop, joints and so on. After learning all about them in our class, making this research about their usage was an important experience.