Engineering key Point

PLANNING FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY A building should be planned in such a manner that it gives maximum day lighting, ventilation and heat insulation. If these requirements are fulfilled, requirement of electric energy comes down. (a) Light:  Natural light provides hygenicatmosphere. Light should not be glaring but it should be uniformly distributed. Providing windows and ventilators of appropriate size at suitable positions contributes a lot for natural lighting. For residential buildings window area to floor area should not be less than 1/10th while for school buildings it should not be less than 1/5th of floor area. For factory buildings north light trusses should be provided to get maximum diffused light. (b) Ventilation:  Ventilation is the circulation of the air in the building. Natural ventilation can be achieved by selecting and positioning of doors, windows and ventilators at suitable places. Always cross ventilations should be planned suitably. Provision of ...

PLANNING SUITABLE ORIENTATION Orientation means setting out the plan of the building with respect to north-south and east-west directions to provide an opportunity to user to enjoy sun-shine and breeze when required and to avoid the same whenever not required. This is also known as planning the aspect of a building. Aspect means arrangement of doors, windows in the external wall to make good use of nature. This term has nothing to do with the architectural aspect of outlook of building. Kitchen should have eastern aspect to enjoy morning sunshine, means, kitchen should be located on the eastern side of the building to make use of morning sun rays. The following are the required aspects for various parts of the building in the northern hemisphere of earth: (a) Kitchen–eastern aspect. (b) Dining room–southern aspect to enjoy winter sun. (c) Drawing and living room–southern or south-eastern aspect to enjoy winter sun. (d) Bed rooms–western or south-western aspect...

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A BUILDING The planning and construction of a building should be aimed at fulfilling the following requirements 1. Strength and stability 2. Dimensional stability 3. Resistance to dampness 4. Resistance to fire 5. Heat insulation 6. Sound insulation 7. Protection against termite attack 8. Durability 9. Security against burglary 10. Lighting and ventilation 11. Comforts and convenience 12. Economy. 1. Strength and Stability:   B uilding should be capable of transferring the expected loads in its life period safely to the ground. Design of various structural components like slabs, beams, walls, columns and footing should ensure safety. None of the structural components should buckle, overturn and collapse. 2. Dimensional Stability:  Excessive deformation of structural components give a sense of instability and result into crack in walls, flooring etc. All structural components, should be so designed that deflecti...

Concrete has completely different properties when it is the plastic stage and when hardened. Concrete in the plastic stage is also known as green concrete. The properties of green concrete include: 1. Workability 2. Segregation 3. Bleeding 4. Harshness. The properties of hardened concrete are: 1. Strength 2. Resistance to wear 3. Dimensional changes 4. Durability 5. Impermeability. Properties of Green Concrete 1. Workability:  This is defined as the ease with which concrete can be compacted fully without segregating and bleeding. It can also be defined as the amount of internal work required to fully compact the concrete to optimum density. The workability depends upon the quantity of water, grading, shape and the percentage of the aggregates present in the concrete. Workability is measured by (a) The slump observed when the frustum of the standard cone filled with concrete is lifted and removed. (b) The compaction factor determined aft...

PLANNING FOR SUITABLE UTILITY Principles of planning for suitable utility are: 1. Roominess 2. Furniture Requirements 3. Groupings 4. Circulation. 1. Roominess:  It refers to suitable proportioning of length, width and height of rooms in the building to get maximum benefit from the minimum dimensions. Length to width ratio should be 1.2 to 1.5. If it is nearly square lot of area is wasted for movement, while, it is more than 1.5, it gives the ‘tunnel’ effect. Doors for rooms should be properly located so that utility and privacy are maximum. Cupboards and lofts should be provided to increase roominess. Proper colours to wall and floor also give roominess effect. Light colour gives effect of more space. 2. Furniture Requirements:  In planning residential, office, laboratory, hospital buildings positions of required furniture should be drawn and then room dimensions, positions of doors, windows,wardsities etc. planned. In case of planning a hostel room ...

PLANNING FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY A building should be planned in such a manner that it gives maximum day lighting, ventilation and heat insulation. If these requirements are fulfilled, requirement of electric energy comes down. (a) Light:  Natural light provides hygenicatmosphere. Light should not be glaring but it should be uniformly distributed. Providing windows and ventilators of appropriate size at suitable positions contributes a lot for natural lighting. For residential buildings window area to floor area should not be less than 1/10th while for school buildings it should not be less than 1/5th of floor area. For factory buildings north light trusses should be provided to get maximum diffused light. (b) Ventilation:  Ventilation is the circulation of the air in the building. Natural ventilation can be achieved by selecting and positioning of doors, windows and ventilators at suitable places. Always cross ventilations should be planned suitably. Prov...

PLANNING FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY A building should be planned in such a manner that it gives maximum day lighting, ventilation and heat insulation. If these requirements are fulfilled, requirement of electric energy comes down. (a) Light:  Natural light provides hygenicatmosphere. Light should not be glaring but it should be uniformly distributed. Providing windows and ventilators of appropriate size at suitable positions contributes a lot for natural lighting. For residential buildings window area to floor area should not be less than 1/10th while for school buildings it should not be less than 1/5th of floor area. For factory buildings north light trusses should be provided to get maximum diffused light. (b) Ventilation:  Ventilation is the circulation of the air in the building. Natural ventilation can be achieved by selecting and positioning of doors, windows and ventilators at suitable places. Always cross ventilations should be planned suitably. Pr...

Building Planning ELEMENTS OF A BUILDING The following are the basic elements of a building: 1. Foundation 2. Plinth 3. Walls and columns 4. Sills, lintels and chejjas 5. Doors and windows 6. Floors 7. Roofs 8. Steps, stairs and lifts 9. Finishing work 10. Building services. The functions of these elements and the main requirement of them is presented in this article. 1. Foundation:  Foundation is the most important part of the building. Building activity starts with digging the ground for foundation and then building it. It is the lowermost part of the building. It transfers the load of the building to the ground. Its main functions and requirements are: (a) Distribute the load from the structure to soil evenly and safely. (b) To anchor the building to the ground so that under lateral loads building will not move. (c) It prevents the building from overturning due to lateral forces. (d) It gives level surface for the construction of su...

Cube crushing machine Tests on Concretehe following are some of the important tests conducted on concrete: 1. Slump test. 2. Compaction factor test. 3. Crushing strength test 1. Slump Test: This test is conducted to determine the workability of concrete. It needs a slump cone for test  Slump cone is a vessel in the shape of a frustum of a cone with diameter at bottom 200mm and 50mm at top and 300 mm high. This cone is kept over a impervious platform and is filled with concrete in four layers. Each layer is tamped with a 16 mm pointed rod for 25 times. After filling completely the cone is gently pulled up. The decrease in the height of the concrete is called slump. Higher the slump, more workable is the concrete. 2. Compaction Factor Test: This is another test to identify the workability of concrete. This test is conducted in the laboratory. The test equipment consists of two hoppers and a cylinder fixed to a stand, the dimension...