Ceiling structures

CEILBOT-PROJECT

MID-TERM REPORT, CEILING STRUCTURES

A.Aalto, Maison Carré, France

Eelon Lappalainen
 History
• Ceiling is quite new ”invention” in residential
buildings, started to become general after
WW II
• Ceilings were used before WW II usually in
castle’s and churches
• Before 19th century ceilings were mostly
made of timber or masonry
• During 19th century cast iron, steel and
concrete were also used in ceilings
– Ceiling made of cast and wrought iron:
1780 - 1900
– Ceilings made of concrete: 1850 -
– Ceilings made of steel: 1880 -
• Typical for ceilings is diversity of different
structures and support systems
• Old ceilings were designed mainly to
support it’s own weight -> adding more load
will usually cause problems (big deflection,
cracking, even collapse)
• Design methods and quality of materials
varies a lot

”A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that bounds ("ceils") the upper limit of a room.”
Wikipedia
 Situation today
• Pre-fab pre-stressed slabs (etc. hollow
core slab) are commonly used
• In residential buildings ceiling is
normally in washrooms and hallways
(installations are hidden behind ceiling)
• In office buildings ceiling is usually in
large areas and hide’s structures and
installations (main installation routes
are in hallways and vertical shafts)
• Small family houses, day-cares, ware-
houses and even some industrial
buildings timber structures and ceiling
is used
• Fire regulations strongly defines
materials what is allowed to use in
certain buildings
• Modern ceiling usually hangs from
load bearing structure by fasteners
Installations inside the ceiling
 Walls
• Wall material limits the
methods for robot route and/or
new openings
– Reinforced concrete
– Masonry
– Timber
– Steel profiles
• Wall could have several
functionalities
– Load bearing
– Stiffening wall (wind,
earthquake, eccentricity)
– Fire wall (30…240 min)
– Partition wall
– Acoustic wall
Door frame and openings
 Sports hall environment
• Open space demand -> Long spans -> larger
deformations
• Structural geometry (main structure)
– Trusses
– Arches
– Frames
– Domes
– Cable structures
– Airdome / balloon structure
• Division in main structure and secondary structure
– Ceiling or/and installations can be suspended
from both
– Secondary structures usually beams, trusses,
slabs, steel sheeting
• Materials
– Steel
– Timber (Glue Laminated, Laminated Veneer
Lumber)
– Reinforced concrete (with or without tendons)
– Cables (high strength steel)
• System movements (deflection, creep, moisture and
temperature deformations) must be noticed for
designing installations (etc. Robot railings)
 Some sports halls

Sports hall in Joensuu

Sports hall in Oulu

 Loading
• Basic loads are given in design codes
(Eurocode, ACI, DIN, RakMK)
• Dead load
• Live load (1,5…10kN/m2)
• Ceiling weight (~0,2…1kN/m2)
• Dead load, live load and ceiling loads
for are in horizontal structures mainly
vertical loads
• Installations (HVAC, motors, robot
etc.) causes three dimensional loads
• Three dimensional loads are usually
handled separately in structural
dimensioning
• Some cases (depends on load type
and structure) dynamic loading can be
expressed:
– static load x dynamic factor
– displacements are limited
• Complex dynamic problems are
usually calculated by FEM
 Fastening
• Ceiling is fastened to load
bearing structure (slab, TIMBER HOLLOW CORE SLAB

beam, truss)
• Fasteners and anchors SCREW

should carry mainly

vertical dead loads from
ceiling and attached LOCKING PART

equipment (electric, FIXING DEVICE

HVAC) COLD FORMED STEEL PROFILE CONCRETE SLAB

• There are numerous

different fastener types
• All fasteners and anchors
which are strained SCREW

dynamically, should be FIXING DEVICE

approved for such NUT&BOLT

ANCHOR BOLT,

purpose CHEMICAL ANCHOR

• Actions causing fatique

will decrease allowable
stress level
 Vibration and sound insulation
• Walking 1,6…2,2Hz
• Natural frequences are divided in two
classes:
– Low frequency floor (f0<8Hz)
• Heavy, long span
– High frequency floor (f0>8Hz)
Free oscillation Free oscillation,
• Light or mid-weight damping
• Resonance should be avoided by
tuning
steady-state
• Passive damping (fixing points)
• Active damping (etc. robot equipped
with sensors, regulators and actuators)
• Structure-borne (impacts) and airborne
sounds should be avoided steady-state

• Impact sound level L´n,w<53dB Forced oscillation Forced oscillation,

(residential buildings in Finland) damping
• Sound reduction index (airborne)
R´w>55dB (residential buildings in
Finland)
• Robot fixing points and railing systems
should be insulated from structure
Vibration sources and isolation
 Risks
• Overloading and wrong
material choises could be fatal
and may cause serious
damages and even loss of
life’s
• Fastener type must be safe
and inspected properly
• All fastenings should be
designed so that they are easy
to check and maintain
• Design boundaries should be Collapsed spa ceiling in Kuopio, Finland
clear; who is designing and
what -> responsibilities
 Sources
• RT 84-10916, Alakatot ja sisäkattoverhoukset
• RT 83-10902, Välipohjarakenteita
• Betoni Suomessa 1860-1960, Betoniyhdistys ry
• Tutkintaselostus B 4/2003 Y, Kylpylän alakaton romahtaminen
Kuopiossa 4.9.2003, Onnettomuustutkintakeskus
• Terasrakenneyhdistys.fi//Esdep
• wikipedia.org
• SFS-EN 1991-1-1
• Fastening Technology Manual, Hilti Corporation, 2004
• Lattioiden värähtelysuunnittelu, VTT Rakennus- ja
yhdyskuntatekniikka
• KSU-3010 Mekaaniset värähtelyt, Luentomoniste, Machine
Dynamics Lab, Tampere University of Technology
• Teräsrunkoisten välipohjien värähtelyjen hallinta, VTT
Rakennustekniikka