Pre-cast Concrete Walls: Redesigning the New Way of Building

A Walls in the New Millennium

An Investigatory Project
Presented to the class of
Mrs. Rhoena D. Ng
University of La Salette Senior Highschool Department

In partial fulfillment
Of the requirements in the subject
Capstone

By
Morales, Kim Wesley C.
Tolentino, Ryan Jhes R.
Zipagang, Harry S.
Collado, Crystal Marion B.
Sibulboro, Jazhiel Grace R.

12 STEM 2
 Abstract
Because of the need for a time efficient building time of a certain project and the demand

for a few and low paying semi-skilled laborers, the aim of this study was to determine whether

was it efficient to change the method of building wall from conventional to precast, was precast

more economical than conventional and if there was significant difference in their compressive

strength. The data were gathered through compression testing results and analyzed through

tabular form. The result showed that there was a significant difference in the compressive

strength of precast and conventional wall and that precast was not cost efficient to use. The

researchers concluded that precast was not good for building residential houses for it comes with

a cost. Precast construction was deemed to be good only for specified building constructions

only.

INTRODUCTION
 Construction in the Philippines has its conventional way of constructing infrastructures.

At present, the most common type of block used in every construction is the Concrete Hollow

Blocks (CHB). The hollow block is made primarily of Portland cement, aggregates usually sand,

water and certain additives. Concrete Hollow Blocks are of the most extensively used walling

materials in the Philippines. Some of the reasons for this is that these are relatively low-cost

compared to other materials and speed of installation by semi-skilled laborers. CBH walls are

very weak against lateral loads (pushing or pulling forces from typhoon and earthquake). Adding

steel-reinforcing bars vertically and horizontally inside the Concrete Hollow Blocks can increase

the resistance to lateral loads.

There are two types of Concrete Hollow Blocks; stacked bond and running bond. We

usually see running band in making ordinary houses. The laying and finishing of CHB walls in

any building construction requires a lot of time and effort to accomplish. The elapsed time

needed for a wall to be completely finished using concrete hollow blocks may range to three of

more days because there is still a need for plastering in both sides. No client or owner will want

to prolong the construction of their particular project but rather they want it faster and money

saving.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

a) Statement of the Problem

General:

The study aims to determine whether the Pre-cast Concrete Walls is more efficient to use than

the conventional way of building a walls through various experiments.

Specific:

1. Is it efficient to change the method of building a wall?

2. Is Pre-cast Concrete Walls more economical than conventional way of building a wall?

3. Is there any significant difference in the compressive strength and performance of Pre-

cast Concrete walls than conventional way of building a wall?

b) Significance of the Study

This study entitled “Pre-cast Concrete Walls: Redesigning the New Way of Building a

Walls in the New Millennium” can be considered as one of the innovative features of

engineering for its unique process of making it.

 Residents – This study will provide more security in terms of durability of the wall and it

will provide the residents comfortability and contentment while living in the house.

 Laborers – They will be benefitted from the study because it will help them to work in an

easier way. It will lessen the time that they consume in making walls because the hollow

blocks are small and it needs a lot of it in order for them to form walls; while the Pre-cast

Concrete Planks will help them shorten the time in building or making walls. They can

use their remaining time to do the other works.

  Civil Engineers – This study might provide solution to the problems encountered by

many people like in terms of durability.

 Future Researchers – The idea presented may possibly be used as reference data in

conducting new researches. This study shall also serve as their cross-reference that will

give them a background in doing their research.

 Pre-cast - The precast industry will benefit from our study because it will utilize more the

concepts of pre-casting while ensuring the strength and durability of our pre-cast concrete

walls.

c) Objective/s of the study

 To identify whether our Pre-cast Concrete Walls can compete to other pre-casts and

conventional blocks with regards to durability, effectivity and compressive strength.

 The researchers aims to create a pre-cast concrete walls that are worthy to be

industrialized, that by using this would significantly reduce the construction cost at the

same time have a faster construction time and a good quality.

 To create ready-made walls that is ductile to lessen the forming of cracks and at the same

time, for the laborers to exert less strength in assembling it.

d) Scope and Limitations

This study is focused on designing and producing a new way of building a walls. It

covers the process on how to make Pre-cast Concrete Walls as an effective method to make
efficient walls. It deals with the assessment of its advantages and disadvantages as compared to

conventional way of building a wall.

Hypothesis

Null:

The Pre-cast Concrete Walls has no significant efficiency and corrodes faster than

Conventional Hollow Blocks.

Alternative:

The Pre-cast Concrete Walls has a significant efficiency with regards to durability and

not time consuming than using conventional way of building a wall.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Pre-cast Concrete Walls: Redesigning Materials for walls in the New Millennium

according to N. Rosley et al (2014) nowadays, precast concrete construction has gained

popularity among engineers and architects. Precast concrete has blessings over in place solid

concrete as a lot of property construction, improved in internal control, shorten time and scale

back construction value. Zhangfeng Zhu and Zhengxing Guo (2016) stated that precast concrete

walls have been continuously investigated by many researchers and the earliest research can

trace to the Precast Seismic Structural Systems (PRESSS) Research Program in the early 1990s.
 A precast cement basic framework offers numerous points of interest over in-situ

throwing. For model, more noteworthy power over the nature of materials and workmanship,

enhanced wellbeing and security (with throwing did at ground level instead of at stature) and

cost proficiency (with standard structures ceaselessly re-utilized) are altogether acknowledged

through the off-site creation of auxiliary components. Subsequently, a vast assortment of

research has been directed into their execution, with numerous national codes of training

additionally committing explicit areas to plan and specifying. Nonetheless, contemporary

structure practice has been appeared to not generally accurately mirror the discoveries of

distributed trial examines (Robinson 2014). In addition to that, precast wall is a prepared utilized

item. The precast walls are designed and planned such that they are economical for construction,

easy for transportation and placing. These walls don't require establishing of framework for

establishment as they are as of now casted with required base for self-standing. These walls are

furnished with required base with regards to the soil. Thus these walls are self-standing. These

are totally non-stack bearing walls which are intended to take just wind loads. These walls don't

require plastering as they are casted with better wrap up. These walls are joined with a work

band which is poured with mortar. These walls are eco-accommodating as they are made

utilizing artificial sand and the decrease of noise pollution. These walls can be casted for the

required number of walls in the given measure of time. (Anitha, et al. 2016)

According to Reardon (2013), precast concrete provides durable, flexible solutions for

floors, walls and even roofs in every type of home construction from individual cottages to

multi-storey apartments. Concrete’s high initial embodied energy can be redeemed by its

extended life cycle (up to 100 years) and high potential for reuse and relocation.
 According to M. Neamitha (2018), precast concrete has been used extensively in

construction projects because of its properties where it has higher durability and quality

compared to the conventional one. The precast construction and conventional method were

compared and it was found that the overall cost required for constructing the building using

precast concrete method was reduced by 20% when compared to conventional method (Siva

Priya et al., 2016). According to Akash Lanke et al., 2016, the length of time of construction is

lesser than the traditional method.

Precast concrete construction considered to produce much better productivity and reduce

the span of time, cost and dependency on work force. Compared to conventional method, the

precast method consumes less time because it reduces unnecessary handling and equipment use.

It has been already concluded that precast construction provides better productivity and more

durable, reduce the duration time of making a particular construction site or project, the cost is

lesser than the conventional one and also the dependency of work force. Precast is a cost and

time saving construction method which assures quality and durability of concrete to its

maximum extent (Ragavendra Holla et al., May 2016).

Methodology

Materials and Setup

Constructing Pre-cast Concrete Walls requires materials such as cement, aggregates,

reinforced steel bar or rebar and chicken wire; tools such as moulder, sieve and shovel were used

to mix, form and carry the components. The following were the materials and equipment that the

researchers used to create a pre-cast concrete walls:

Materials:
 Cement - is the base material and is used to bind all the construction materials to turn into a

hard compact mass with sufficient strength.

 Aggregates - are an essential ingredient in concrete like sand and gravel that were used in

making concrete planks. In this project, sand were used as an aggregates.

 Chicken wire- is used to provide more strength to the pre-cast concrete walls.

 Reinforced Steel Bar or rebar- is used to resist the lateral loads and to strengthen and hold

the concrete in tension.

Equipment:

 Moulder- pre-cast wall have specific forms and shapes to be followed to ensure efficiency

and effectiveness. A moulder or former of the pre-cast wall was used as a guide on what will

be the shape and size of the wall. The moulder was filled with the base materials needed in

pre-cast wall, chicken wire and rebar for strength and gravel which was compacted and

remove from the moulder.(Quantity: 1 piece)

 Sieve-The sieve was used as a kind of filter for the sand that will be used.The unfiltered

mass of gravel was poured on top at the Sieve then the sieve was shaken for the fine sand to

pass through and this will be used in the cement making process. (Quantity: 1 piece)

Shovel- Mixing have important role in the pre-cast wall making process: materials must be

properly mixed to attain the desired effect. The shovel was used as both the mixer of the

materials and as a means of helper in carrying materials. (Quantity: 1 pipiece

Tabular Presentation

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Preparing the The pre-cast wall

Materials: materials is more
convenient than
*Cement the conventional
Mixing the way of building
*Aggregates materials wall in any
infrastructures in
*Chicken Wire terms of speeding
up the building
Creating the
*Reinforced steel time, less fees to
prototype pre-
laborers and
bar or rebar cast wall
more durable
than the “usual”
wall.

FEEDBACK

Procedure
 The preparation of the raw materials (cement, sand, water and chicken wire and reinforced

steel bars.) was the first thing the researchers did. The researchers determined the suitable

amounts of given materials needed to produce concrete of desired quality under conditions of

mixing, placing and curing which are phases under proportioning. The researchers used a 3

bucket of sand that is equivalent to 15 kg, 1 bucket of cement that is equivalent to 5 kg and 3.5 L

of water, rebar and chicken wire to make a pre-cast wall prototype. The researchers were assisted

by a carpenter from mixing to curing.

The researchers made a desired moulder for the making of the pre-cast wall prototype. The

size of moulder is 0.5 m in length, 0.3 m in width, and 0.1 m in thickness. A moulder is made

from recycled plywood, lumber and nails. The researchers have bought a 5 kg bag of cement and

15 kg sack of sand from a hardware to the designated place where the product is made. Also the

researchers bought a 1 meter chicken wire and 9 mm reinforced steel bars. After the moulder was

made, the researchers began the making of a cement paste for the building of pre-cast wall

prototype. The researchers put 3 bucket of sand (15 kg), 1 bucket of cement (5 kg) and 3.5 L of

water for a 0.5 m (length) by 0.3 m (width) by 0.1 m (thickness) prototype pre-cast wall to the

mixing area.

The researchers mixed the material using a shovel and ready the moulder. The researchers

pour half cement paste to the moulder and then the researchers put the chicken wire and rebar in

the center and then pour the remaining cement paste into the moulder. The researchers put the

moulder in a place that the product will heal. It takes time to heal wherein the healing process

takes 9-18 days to achieve the best strength of the product.

RESULTS

Table 1: Efficiency of building a wall

Conventional way of building a 3m x 4m wall
Laborer Time
Hole 2 1 hour
Alignment of the wall
15 hollow blocks height
10 hollow blocks length 2 1 day
150 hollow total
blocks
Finishing of the wall 2 1 day
Healing of the wall 9-18 days

Pre-cast Concrete Wall 3m x 4m

Laborer Time
Hole 2 1 hour
Mixing
Sand and gravel
Cement (mixer) 5 minutes
Water
Pouring (mixer) 1-2 minutes
Healing for installment 1 day
Installing 1 (truck) 2-3 minutes
Healing 9-18 days
 The finding shows that the pre-cast concrete wall is efficient to change the method of

building a wall. In terms of building a 3m x 4m wall, pre-cast concrete wall is more efficient.

You can build a wall in an easier and faster way than the conventional way of building a wall. In

conventional way of building a wall, it will take two days and an hour to finish a 3m x 4m wall

while in pre-cast concrete wall, will take one (1) day and sixty-seven (67) minutes to make and

install a 3m x 4m wall.

Table 2: Economical values(Estimations)

*The price will be based on the sample size with the length of 4 meters and 3 meters width.

Materials Conventional
Pre-Cast (1:3)
(Price/volume/length) (1:6)

Cement ( 10 pesos / 1250 pesos / 4000 pesos /

kg) 125kgs 400kgs

Sand and Gravel (

525 pesos / 840 pesos /
700 pesos / Cubic
.75𝑚3 1.2𝑚3
meter)
10mm Reinforced
660 pesos / 6 880 pesos / 8
steel bar ( 110 pesos /
pieces pieces
piece)

Chicken Wire ( 25 300 pesos / 4x3

NONE
pesos / square meter ) meters
The ratio of Pre-Cast wall is 1:3 which is

considered very strong mixed while the ratio of the

conventional is 1:6 which is the standard mixed of

Hollow Blocks ( 20 3000 pesos / cement. The prices of the materials were consulted
NONE
pesos / piece ) 150 pieces
in hardware shop which considered the standard

price of the materials. For the use of cement, Pre-

Cast used 400kilograms of cement in a 4x3 meters

TOTAL 5435 pesos 6020 pesos sample wall which cost of 4000 pesos while

Conventional used 125kilograms of cement which

cost 1250pesos. For the Sand and Gravel, Pre-Cast

use 1.2 cubic meter which cost 840 pesos and the Conventional use .75 cubic meter which cost

525 pesos. For the 10mm Reinforced steel bar, the Pre-Cast use 8 pieces of steel bar which cost

880 pesos while Conventional only used 6 pieces which cost 660 pesos. For the Chicken wire,

the Pre-Cast use 4x3 meters of Chicken wire which cost 300 pesos while conventional does not

have chicken wire. For the Hollow Blocks, the Pre-Cast does not used Hollow blocks while

Conventional used 150 pieces of hollow blocks which cost of 3000pesos. The total expenses of

the Pre-Cast is 6020pesos and Conventional is 5435pesos.

 The Pre-Cast used more cement than Conventional because Pre-Cast is a wall that needs

a lot of cement and that makes it more durable than a conventional. Conventional use more sand

and gravel than Pre-Cast because conventional need to fill every holes of a hollow blocks and

also for the finishing of the wall while pre-cast do it all at once. The conventional wall uses less

steel bar because it is only used for layering of the blocks and serve as the stand of a wall while

Pre-Cast used more steel bars to ensure the durability of it and also serve as a stand and skeleton

of a wall. Pre-Cast used chicken wire as additional strength of a wall to ensure its durability and

for the long lasting and best quality of the wall. Pre-Cast does not used hollow blocks because it

is a ready-made wall that it only needs a moulder to fill by a concrete mixer and wait to become

solid then the Pre-Cast is ready to go while conventional way of building a wall needs a lot of

time due to layering of the blocks, waiting it to solidify, and for the finishing of it. The

Conventional is little bit cheaper than Pre-Cast but it is only for the materials and there is no

labor for it, Pre-Cast is more costly but the researcher ensure its durability and the long lasting of

a wall also this includes a free labor in assembling the Pre-Cast wall for proper handling and

proper building of a wall. The Pre-Cast wall is a little bit expensive in materials that will be use

but the assurance of durability is ensured and the labor is free while conventional way of

building a wall is little bit cheaper but it includes labors that may add to the expenses. This

estimations is calculated based on the average price of the materials in real market.

Table 3.0: Compressive strength (9 days)

Sample Markings Ultimate Strength (MPa) Condition of the sample

Sample 1

(L= 15, W=3.75, H=9.25) 67.8 DR

Table 3.0 shows that the ultimate strength of the sample 1 precast wall prototype is 67.8 mega

Pascal (MPa) upon dry receipt, in which it is much higher than conventional wall.

Table 3.1: Compressive strength (18 days)

Sample Markings Ultimate Strength (MPa) Condition of the sample

Sample 2

(L=19.5,W=3.75,H=11) 69.8 DR

Table 3.1 that the ultimate strength of the sample 2 precast wall prototype is 69.8 MPa upon dry

receipt, in which it is also higher than conventional wall.

Table 3.2: Compressive strength

Sample Markings Ultimate Strength (MPa) Condition of the sample

Standard CHB Wall

17 DR

Table 3.2 shows that the ultimate strength of standard CHB Wall is 17 MPa upon dry receipt, in

which it is lower than the other two samples.

There is a significant difference in the compressive strength and performance of Pre-cast

concrete walls than the conventional way of building walls. As a result of this research study,

Pre-cast Concrete walls are strong against pushing or pulling forces from typhoons or

earthquake. It consists of steel bars that increase the resistance of the wall. Pre-cast Concrete

walls may have potential to improve the construction efficiency from several points of view. It

reduces the construction time and materials; it has high quality compared to the convenient one;

it increases the durability of structures as well as reducing of total construction costs of a

particular building.
Conclusion

The researchers therefore conclude that there is a significant efficiency of the precast wall

with regards to its compressibility and its economical value; in a way that it makes the
infrastructures sturdier and easier to build. No significant efficiency in terms of its price for it is

costly. The research needs a further study for it to be more widely used in the Philippine market.

Recommendation/s

Based upon the results of this research, the researchers hereby recommend that:

• The future researchers that will come up with the same study must further develop the

research to come up with a solution on how to close the gap of the expenses of precast wall to the

expenses of the conventional way of making walls.

• Make use of alternative material/s such as PVC materials in making precast to sustain

its durability and reducing its market price, without sacrificing its quality.