Comparative Design for a Three Storey Hospital Building in Composite and Reinforced Concrete Constructions

Comparative Design for a Three Storey Hospital Building in Composite and Reinforced Concrete Constructions

Abstract

A three story hospital building has been designed in composite method and in reinforced concrete one. A critical comparative study between the two methods shows that design by composite method is easier, less complex and takes shorter time. Composite method also resulted in shallower beam depth. Two identified disadvantages of composite method is that, constructionally, it resulted in heavier structural elements and ultimately increasing the overall weight of the hole building. Secondly, that the method resulted in a more costly structure. The report concludes that for a lightly loaded building and for a building involving not more than three stories the reinforced concrete method is more advantageous. Composite construction can only compete with the reinforced concrete one in heavily loaded buildings and in high-rise buildings. The greater is the number of stories involved, the more economical is composite constructional method.