April 2011 - Vol: 1 No: 1 Content

International Founding Member Organisations 2

JOURNAL of SEWC Board Members 2

SEWC
Editorial Board 2
Guidelines to Authors 2
President's Message 3
Structural Engineers World Congress Editorial 4

Journal Section

5 Evolution of Seismic Design Provisions in U.S. Building Codes

Ghosh S.K

10 Precasting: When, Where, How?

Gian Carlo Giuliani, Italy

15 Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability

Mehta P. Kumar

23 When Structures Move

Kawaguchi, Mamoru

29 Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
Bažant, Zdenêk P and Yu

39 Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators

Raghu Prasad B.K, Lakshmanan N, Gopalakrishnan N and Muthumani K

Magazine Section

45 Message from Balaram P, Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

46 Message from Balakrishnan N, Associate Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

47 Structural Engineers World Congress - Idea to Reality

Roland L Sharpe, Founding President SEWC, Inc.

51 REMINISCENCE - Sankalp - An architectural adventure story

Jaisim K, Jaisim Fountainhead, Bangalore

53 Hyderabad International Airport Passenger Terminal Building - Project Description

Winston Teng Shu, Principal of Integrated Design Associates Ltd., Hong Kong

55 News

58 Events

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The views expressed in this journal are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the publisher.

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 1

 Founding Member SEWC
Organisations Board Members
Sundaram R, India
President- Structural Engineers World
Congress (SEWC) - India
Chairman & Managing Director,
Sundaram Architects Pvt. Ltd
American Concrete Institute Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE Advisory Board Member - IASS
No. 19, Kumarakrupa Road,
Bangalore 560 001. INDIA
Email : edp@sundaramarchitects.com

Roland L Sharpe, USA

International Association of
Shell and Spatial Structures
Japan Structural
Consultants Association
Immediate Past Founding President
Founder President of the Structural
Engineers World Congress ( SEWC)
Consultant with Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,
R. Sharpe Consulting Engineers, 10320
Rolly Road, STE-1, Los Altos Hillf, California, USA
Email : rsharpe3@mindspring.com

Narendra K Srivastava, Canada

NCSEA
National Council of Structural
Engineers Associations
SEAOC
Structural Engineers
Association of California
Working Vice President
Member of International Journal Editorial Boards,
Vice President of the IASS
Adjunct Research Professor at the
University of Waterloo, Canada
Email : srivasn@gmail.com

Enzo Siviero, Italy

Editorial Board Working Vice President
Prof.eng, structural consulting engineer in Padova
Teacher Bridge Theory and Design at IUAV
University in Venice
Vice President National University Council Civil
Engineering and Architecture PROGEeST Srl
Via E. degli Scrovegni, 29, 35131 - Padova Italy
Raghu Prasad B.K Email : enzo.siviero@progeest.com
Editor-in-Chief
Toshio Okoshi, Japan
Vice President
Past president of the Japan Structural
Consultants Association, a technical adviser in
Nihon Sekkei and a Professor in Waseda
Pradeep K.P University. Member of ASCE, IABSE,
Editor JIA, JCI and JSSC
Email : okoshi_t@ion.ocn.ne.jp
Guidelines to Authors James R. Cagley, P.E.,S.E.
Principal, Cagley & Associates,Inc
Contributions resulting from original research in the area of structural 6141 Executive Blvd, Rockville, MD 20852
Engineering, analysis, design, structural materials and other related Email : Jim@cagley.com
topics in the form of technical papers to be published in the
International Journal of Structural Engineers World Congress (SEWC) A. H-S. Ang, USA
are welcome. Research Professor, University of California,
Irvine, Email : Ahang2@aol.com
Prospective authors are free to prepare the manuscripts in their own
convenient format and submit in MS Word file. The publisher will Sung Pil Chang, South Korea
modify the format according to the standard format of the journal Email: spchang@snu.ac.kr
before printing.
Gian Carlo Giuliani, Italy
The authors are requested to particularly not to miss mentioning the Dr.eng, structural professional enginee
page number of the paper / book in the list of reference. in Milano Italy),
Alberta (Canada) and Cyprus
The manuscript submitted will be peer reviewed and the comment will Advisory Board member IASS, fellow member
be made known to the author. ASCE, IABSE, Member ACI. fib, PCI, GLIS
Email : gc.giuliani@redesco.it

2 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

President's Message

Sundaram R
President, Structural Engineers World Congress, Worldwide
Member, Advisory Board, IASS

I
t is my privilege as the President of USA in 1998, in Yokohama, Japan in 2002 and in
SEWC to write in the first journal and Bangalore, India in 2007. Now in 2011 April it is being held
magazine of SEWC being released in in COMO, Italy. We are planning 2015 SEWC in
Como, Italy. Today Structural engineering Singapore.
is undergoing a major transformation,
The art of structural designing has become extremely
new materials, innovative methods of
efficient and interesting since the complexity of the
construction, different approaches to
structural behaviour can be thoroughly analysed with the
design, energy efficient materials and
available and emerging Software and computers. The
buildings and the like. So in order to
famous adage “form follows function” stands modified to
disseminate knowledge on structural
“form follows structure and function”. This enables
engineering worldwide we decided to
structural designers to adopt interesting and often
publish SEWC journal twice a year.
amazing configurations for structures such as multi-
Structural Engineers World Congress was storeyed complexes, space frames, shell structures,
first formed in October 1994. The idea is to bridges, long span structures, tall towers and the like.
bring all the structural engineers on one
The congress in Como has a number of Stalwarts
common platform once in four years. The
presenting their views on their path breaking works. They
topics include all design aspects,
are from different parts of the world and it is going to be
practical construction, innovative
most interesting.
solutions, Codes & Practices and design
of energy efficient buildings. Congresses I hope and trust this journal of SEWC will be an useful
have been conducted in San Francisco, addition to the existing Journals.

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 3

 Editorial
Prof. Raghu Prasad B.K
Editor-in-Chief
I
t is indeed a privilege to write an
editorial for an inaugural issue. I am
certain that the entire structural
engineering fraternity would be thrilled to
know that SEWC will hereafter publish
noteworthy contributions in the area of
structural engineering and other related
topics. All these years, SEWC was
content in holding conferences once in 4
years. Now, a need is strongly felt among
the structural engineering community
that we need to record our contributions
to the field by publishing the same.
Structural engineering in the world has
grown beyond one's comprehension.
We hear of tall buildings which could be
as tall as almost a km. Similarly we hear
of very long bridges, underpasses/
tunnels. We have witnessed a tunnel
under the sea. We hear of mega
structures built in a few months. New
materials have emerged like high
strength, high performance, ultra high
strength, fibre reinforced and light weight
as well as geopolymer concretes. Self
consolidating concrete is a boon to all
structures, especially tall structures
where concrete can be pumped. Such
concretes in the form of liquid when fresh
4 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
attaining high strength when cured and set are too good
to believe. They were all dreams three decades ago.
Now is the time to think of energy saving and sustainable
materials like brick and earthen structures like rammed
earth which can withstand even earthquakes. Such
materials also lessen the carbon footprint leading to a
greener planet. New composites using glass and plastics
have emerged recently.
Apart from the new materials mentioned above, research
is still on newer types of forms particularly the spatial and
shell structures. They have been very apt for unusually
long spans. Inflatable structures are finding their presence
in some special applications. Health monitoring and
damage assessment by various techniques and various
types of retrofitting methods are all possible with latest
developments in fracture and damage mechanics.
Especially concrete structures built several decades ago
are in a state of distress due to aggressive environment
and thus there is an urgent need to rehabilitate them by
the methods mentioned above. Some failures in concrete
structures which occurred recently are attributed to
another phenomenon called size effect which has opened
up new thoughts on structural design.
Therefore, thus Journal is apt and quite timely as it
addresses many practical issues to be tackled as
mentioned above along with appropriate theories.
I wish the Journal a very bright and long future in the 21st
century.
Message from the President of the
SEWC 2011 Organizing Committee

Gian Carlo Giuliani dr. eng.

President, SEWC 2011 Organizing Committee

confident in our creating effort and will exploit new interesting

We were able to hold SEWC2011 in Villa Erba
thanks to the local Bodies:
Comune di Como Provincia di Como Camera
di Commercio di Como Villa d'Este
On behalf of the Organising Committee I am
expressing many thanks to the City Mayor and
to the Presidents of the other Bodies for their
valuable and strong support.
Every Congress is organized for improving the
scientific and the technical knowledge of the
participants and of the organizers.
All of us, by participating in the Congress, will
benefit of the increasing of our knowledge and
of the sharing of structural engineering
experiences with intercontinental colleagues.
Structural engineering was defined as the art of
using materials, which feature not completely
known behaviors, for resisting not completely
known actions, for designing and building safe
and reliable constructions; a general
improvement for this process is still necessary
and can be achieved during the Congress.
The contributions to SEWC2011 should allow
us to reduce the extents of the unknowns and to
acquire the results of many experiences and
case histories; at the end we will be a little more
structural solutions.
The aims of SEWC2011 are ambitious and I do hope that all of
these will be fulfilled to the participants' satisfaction.
AIM 1 Structural engineers from all the continents will gather and
share their experiences
AIM 2 Being conscious of the existence and the advantages of a
holistic design
AIM 3 Sharing the experience of the cooperation between
Architects and Engineers, taking into account the attitudes
AIM 4 Acquiring the consciousness of the beauty and the
harmony laying in the structural engineering
AIM 5 Finding a clue for special problems - no deep loneliness in
facing unknowns
AIM 6 Discussing scientific clues and case histories for the
design and construction process
AIM 7 Acquiring the development of the characteristics of the
materials
AIM 8 Up dating the knowledge on the structural dynamics
Many other aims could be illustrated but any one of the
participants has his ones.
The aims can be better located in our minds by means of figures
and mainly by works of art which, in my opinion, evocate deeper
thoughts on the matter.
As a conclusion, I do hope that all the delegates will be satisfied
by the whole SEWC2011 event and that will disseminate in their
native Countries the consciousness that structural engineering
has no boundaries.
In addition I wish for all the delegates the warmest greetings from
Italy which they should bring with them in their Countries.

Venues of SEWC C. Carrà Hector After Le C. Carrà The C. Carrà U.Boccioni - C. Carrà - Balla swallows traces and
and Andromaca Corbusier Lover of the Solitude Unique forms Rhythms and dynamic sequences
Engineer of the space space continuum
continuum

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC

Evolution of Seismic Design
Provisions in U.S. Building Codes
Abstract
Seismic design provisions in building codes of the United
States have undergone profound and far-reaching
changes in recent years. This paper provides an overview
of the major trends that have characterized those
changes. Trends in the broad areas of seismic input, site
classification and site coefficients, triggers for seismic
detailing requirements, and performance basis of seismic
design are examined. Future trends are briefly commented
upon.
Seismic Input
The seismic input used in seismic design has changed in
a number of significant ways in recent years. Through its
1985 edition, the Uniform Building Code (UBC) (1) used a
Z-factor that was roughly indicative of the peak accelera-
tion on rock corresponding to a 475-year return period
earthquake (an earthquake having a 90% probability of
non-exceedance in 50 years). There was only an equiva-
lent lateral force procedure of seismic design. The upper-
bound design base shear or the “flat-top” (or constant-
acceleration) part of the design spectrum was soil-inde-
pendent; the descending branch or the period-depen-
dent (or constant-velocity) part of the design spectrum
varied with 1/T1/2 and was modified by a site coefficient S;
there was no lower-bound design base shear.
The Applied Technology Council (ATC) Tentative Provi-
sions (2) in 1978 introduced two spectral quantities:
Aa = EPA/g, where EPA was the spectral (pseudo-) accel-
eration divided by 2.5 (the division bringing EPA close to
the peak acceleration on rock), and Av = EPV (in./second)
x 0.4/12 (in./second), where EPV was the spectral (pseudo-
) velocity divided by 2.5 (a quantity close to the peak ve-
locity on rock). Both quantities corresponded to a 475-
year return period earthquake.
The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program
Provisions (NEHRP 1985, NEHRP 1988 and NEHRP 1991
(3)) used the same spectral quantities as seismic input.
The acceleration-governed part of the design spectrum
was soil-independent, except for a lower plateau for soft
soil sites; the velocity-governed part varied with 1/T2/3 and
Ghosh, Dr. S.K.
was modified by a site coefficient S; there was no lower-
bound design base shear.
The Z-factor of the 1988 UBC became indicative of the
larger of two quantities: Aa and Av within a seismic zone.
The constant-acceleration part of the design spectrum
remained soil-independent, the lower plateau for soft soils
was eliminated; the constant velocity part now varied with
1/T2/3 and was modified by a site coefficient S; a soil-inde-
pendent minimum design base shear was added in the
equivalent lateral force procedure. All of this remained
unchanged in the 1991 and the 1994 UBC.
The 1994 NEHRP Provisions (3) used soil-modified spec-
tral quantities as the ground motion input. Aa was modified
by a short-period site coefficient Fa, yielding Ca; Av was
modified by a long-period site coefficient Fv, yielding Cv. Ca
defined the upper-bound design base shear; Cv/T2/3 defined
the descending branch. Thus, the constant-acceleration part
of the design spectrum for the first time became soil-de-
pendent. There was still no lower-bound design base shear.
The 1997 UBC was similar to the 1994 NEHRP Provisions,
except that a single Z-factor was still used to generate short-
period as well as long-period seismic input. Ca of the 1997
UBC was the Z-factor modified by a short-period site coef-
ficient, Fa; Cv of the 1997 UBC was the Z-factor modified by
a long-period site coefficient, Fv. Ca defines the flat-top part
of the design spectrum; Cv/T defines the descending branch.
Note the change from 1/T2/3 to 1/T. Two minimum design
base shears are prescribed in the equivalent lateral force
procedure one applicable in all seismic zones, the other
applicable only in Seismic Zone 4. The higher minimum
governs when both values are applicable. The minimum
value that applies in all seismic zones is soil-dependent;
the other minimum is soil-independent.
The 1997 and subsequent NEHRP Provisions (3) and the
International Building Code (IBC) (4) use soil-modified spec-
tral accelerations: SDS = (2/3)FaSs and SD1 = (2/3)FvS1. Ss
and S1 are spectral accelerations at periods of 0.2 second
and 1.0 second, respectively, corresponding to the maxi-
mum considered earthquake on soft rock that is character-
istic of the western United States. The maximum consid-
ered earthquake has a 2 percent probability of exceedance
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 5
Evolution of Seismic Design Provisions in U.S. Building Codes
in 50 years (an approximate return period of 2500 years),
except in coastal California where it is the largest earth-
quake that can be generated by the known seismic
sources.
Two-thirds of the maximum considered earthquake re-
places the design (500-year return period) earthquake of
older codes. SDS and SD1 define a spectral shape that
changes from location to location, whereas in the past,
the same spectral shape was scaled down from areas of
high to low seismicity. The flat-top part of the design spec-
trum, defined by SDS, is soil-dependent. The descending
branch of the design spectrum, defined by SD1/T, is also
soil-dependent. So is the minimum design base shear
that is prescribed for all Seismic Design Categories in the
equivalent lateral force procedure (Seismic Design Cat-
egory is discussed later), except that in the 2006 IBC, this
minimum has been replaced by a much lower soil-de-
pendent minimum value a change that is to be reversed
in the near future. A second minimum base shear is pre-
scribed in the equivalent lateral force procedure for build-
ings assigned to Seismic Design Categories E and F or
for any building located where S1 = 0.6g. This second
minimum is soil-independent. Designing for two-thirds of
the maximum considered earthquake provides a uniform
level of safety against collapse in that earthquake, 2/3
being the reciprocal of 1.5, the lower-bound margin of
safety built into seismic design by U.S. codes (as estab-
lished by surveys).
As long as the 500-year return period earthquake was the
design earthquake, the level of safety against collapse in
the maximum considered earthquake was non-uniform
across the country. This is because in coastal California,
the maximum considered earthquake ground motion is only
about 1.5 times as strong as the ground motion in a 500-
year return period earthquake, whereas in the Midwest and
the East, the maximum considered earthquake ground
motion may be four or five times as strong as the ground
motion in a 500-year return period earthquake.
Site Classification And Site Coefficients
The 1994 NEHRP Provisions3 brought about a major change
in site classification and site coefficients used in seismic
design. The new scheme was adopted (with necessary
modifications) into the 1997 UBC and has been adopted
(again with necessary modifications) into the 1997 and sub-
sequent NEHRP Provisions (3) and the IBC (4). The signifi-
cant changes from prior seismic design are as follows:
1. Site Classification - The four Soil Profile Types (S1
through S4) of the 1994 UBC have been replaced by six
Site Classes: A through F. In the 1994 UBC, S1 was rock, S2
was intermediate soil, S3 was soft soil, and S4 was very soft
soil.
There are now two categories of rock. Site Class A is hard,
geologically older rock of the eastern United States. Site
6 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
Class B is softer, geologically younger rock of the western
United States. Site Classes C, D, and E represent progres-
sively softer material. Site Class F consists of material so
poor that to be able to design any structure founded on it,
a designer must have a site-specific spectrum and must
perform dynamic analysis using that spectrum.
2. Site Coefficients - There used to be one soil factor S;
now there are two site coefficients: a short-period or
acceleration-related Fa, and a long-period or velocity-
dependent Fv.
3. Dependence of Site Coefficients on Seismicity -
Whereas the old S-factor was a function of the Soil Profile
Type only (1.0 for S1, 1.2 for S2, 1.5 for S3, and 2.0 for S4),
each of the new site coefficients (Fa and Fv), in addition to
being a function of the Site Class, is also dependent on the
seismicity at the site. Fa, Fv of the 1994 NEHRP Provisions
are functions of Aa and Av, respectively. Ca, Cv of the 1997
UBC are both functions of Z. Fa and Fv of the 1997 and
subsequent NEHRP Provisions and the IBC are functions
of Ss and S1, respectively.
For the same Site Class, the site coefficients Fa and Fv are
typically larger in areas of low seismicity and smaller in ar-
eas of high seismicity. This is directly in line with observa-
tions that low-magnitude rock motion is magnified to a larger
extent by soft soil deposits than is high-magnitude rock
motion.
4. Maximum Values of Site Coefficients - While the maxi-
mum value of the old soil factor S was 2.0 for Type S4 soil,
the maximum values of Fa and Fv are 2.5 and 3.5, respec-
tively, in the 1997 and subsequent NEHRP Provisions and
the IBC. This requirement results in significant increases in
seismic design forces for buildings (particularly taller build-
ings) founded on softer soils in areas of low seismicity.
5. Basis of Site Classification - Soil Profile Types S1
through S4 were qualitatively defined in the UBC. The struc-
tural engineer, after reviewing the soils report, typically de-
termined the Soil Profile Type. This is to be contrasted with
the new situation where the distinction among the Site
Classes must be based on one of three measured soil prop-
erties at the site: the shear wave velocity, the standard pen-
etration resistance (or blow count) or the undrained shear
strength. If one of a number of given conditions is satisfied
at a site, it becomes classified as F. If one of a number of
other given conditions is satisfied at a site, it becomes clas-
sified as E. Once Class F and Class E, based on the given
conditions, are ruled out, soil property measurements need
to be undertaken.
It is possible for a site to get classified as E, based on
property measurements as well. The properties need to
be measured over the top 100 ft (30 m) of a site. If the top
100 ft (30 m) is not homogeneous, it must be divided into
layers that are reasonably homogeneous, and the proper-
ties of those layers measured. The 1997 NEHRP Provi-

sions, the 1997 UBC and the 2000 IBC give formulas by
which to arrive at average soil properties over the top 100
ft (30 m), based on those measurements. The IBC, but not
the 1997 UBC or the 1997 NEHRP Provisions, permits the
geotechnical engineer preparing the soils report to esti-
mate, rather than measure, the soil properties mentioned
earlier, based on known geologic conditions. In the ab-
sence of measured or estimated soil properties, the de-
fault Site Class is D, unless the building official has deter-
mined that E or F may exist at the site.
Seismic Detailing Requirements
Seismic Zones - In the Uniform Building Code, through
its 1997 edition, and in seismic codes, standards, and
other documents based on the UBC, seismic detailing
requirements and other restrictions such as height limits
on certain structural systems depended upon the Seis-
mic Zone in which a structure was located. Zones were
regions in which the intensity of seismic ground motion,
corresponding to a certain probability of occurrence, was
within certain ranges.
Seismic Performance Categories - Given that public
safety is a primary code objective, and that not all build-
ings in a Seismic Zone are equally crucial to public safety,
a new mechanism called the Seismic Performance Cat-
egory (SPC) was developed in the ATC 3 document, and
was used in all the NEHRP Provisions through 1994, and
in all codes and standards based on the 1994 and earlier
NEHRP Provisions (BOCA/NBC 1993, 1996, 1999 (5); SBC
1994, 1997, 1999 (6), ASCE 7-93 (7), and ASCE 7-95 (7)).
In all these documents, the SPC, rather than the Seismic
Zone, was the determinant of seismic detailing require-
ments (and other restrictions), thereby dictating that, in
many cases, the seismic design requirements for a hospi-
tal be more restrictive than those for a small business struc-
ture constructed on the same site. The detailing require-
ments for Seismic Performance Categories A & B, C, and
D & E were roughly equivalent to those for Seismic Zones
0 & 1, 2, and 3 & 4, respectively.
Seismic Design Categories - The most recent devel-
opment has been the establishment of Seismic Design
Categories as the determinant of seismic detailing require-
ments in the 1997 and subsequent NEHRP Provisions (3),
ASCE 7-98, ASCE 7-02 and ASCE 7-05 (7), and the 2000,
2003 and 2006 IBC (4). Recognizing that building perfor-
mance during a seismic event depends not only on the
severity of the sub-surface rock motion, but also on the
type of soil upon which a structure is founded, the SDC is
a function of location, building occupancy, and soil type.
For a structure, the SDC needs to be determined twice
first as a function of the short-period seismic input param-
eter, SDS, and a second time as a function of the long-
period seismic input parameter, SD1. The more severe cat-
egory governs. The 2003 and 2006 IBC permit the deter-
mination of Seismic Design Category based on short-pe-
Evolution of Seismic Design Provisions in U.S. Building Codes
riod ground motion alone for short buildings that satisfy
certain additional criteria.
Impact of Changes from Seismic Zones to SPC
to SDC - Clearly, the procedure for establishing the seis-
mic classification of a structure has become more com-
plex. Determining the Seismic Zone of a structure simply
requires establishing the location of the structure on a
Seismic Zone map. Determining the Seismic Perfor-
mance Category of a structure requires the interpolation
of a ground motion parameter on a contour map, based
on the location of the structure, determining the use clas-
sification of the structure, and consulting a table. The
process leading to the establishment of the Seismic
Design Category of the IBC for a structure involves sev-
eral steps, many of which are rather complex.
When ATC 3 in 1978 made the level of detailing (and other
restrictions concerning permissible structural systems,
height, irregularity and analysis procedure) also a function
of occupancy, that was a major departure from prior prac-
tice. Now, the level of detailing and other restrictions have
been made a function of the soil characteristics at the site
of a structure in addition to occupancy. This is a further major
departure from recent prior practice across the United States
a move that has important economic implications that have
been discussed elsewhere (9-11). Earthquake design is no
longer just a regional concern. In unlikely places such as
Atlanta, Georgia, the equivalent of California detailing may
be required, particularly on softer soils.
Performance Basis
Prior to the 1997 NEHRP Provisions - The seismic de-
sign provisions of all U.S. codes and similar documents
based on the 1994 or earlier NEHRP Provisions, or not based
on the NEHRP Provisions, had the following implicit perfor-
mance bases:
(1) For standard-occupancy or ordinary structures, ensure
life safety under the design earthquake, which had a
90 percent probability of non-exceedance in 50 years
or a return period of 475 years.
(2) For assembly buildings or high-occupancy structures,
provide enhanced protection of life.
(3) For essential or emergency response facilities, improve
capability to function during and following an earth-
quake.
It is generally uneconomical and unnecessary to design a
structure to respond elastically to the design earthquake.
The design seismic horizontal forces recommended by
codes are generally much less than the elastic response
inertia forces expected to be induced by the design earth-
quake. Code-designed structures are expected to ensure
life safety under design earthquake ground shaking because
of their ability to dissipate seismic energy by inelastic de-
formations in certain localized regions of certain members.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 7
Evolution of Seismic Design Provisions in U.S. Building Codes
A decrease in structural stiffness caused by accumulat-
ing damage and soil-structure interaction also helps at
times.
The use of seismic design forces prescribed by codes
requires that the critical regions of members have suffi-
cient inelastic deformability to enable the structure to sur-
vive without collapse when subjected to several cycles of
loading in the inelastic range. This means avoiding all
forms of brittle failure and achieving adequate inelastic
deformability by flexural yielding of members. This is
achieved through proper detailing of reinforced concrete
beams, columns, beam-to-column joints and shear walls,
rules for which are presented in the materials chapters of
codes and in materials standards.
Enhanced protection of life in high-occupancy structures
was provided for in the Uniform Building Code through
the requirement of an importance factor of 1.5 for the an-
chorage of machinery and equipment required for life-
safety systems. The anchorage design forces went up by
this factor. Structural observation, which was required for
this occupancy category, also played a role. An impor-
tance factor of 1.25 for the structure itself, an importance
factor of 1.5 for elements of structures, nonstructural com-
ponents and elements supported by structures, and struc-
tural observation requirements together were used as a
means of improving the capability of essential facilities to
function during and following an earthquake.
In ATC 3, in the NEHRP Provisions through the 1994 edi-
tion, and in codes based on the NEHRP Provisions pre-
dating the 1997 edition, enhanced protection of life in
high-occupancy structures (as well as in hazardous and
essential facilities) was attempted to be achieved through
the device of the Seismic Performance Category, which
combined occupancy with seismic risk at the site of a
structure. Higher detailing requirements were prescribed
for higher seismic performance categories. For essential
or emergency response facilities, improved capability to
function during and following an earthquake was at-
tempted to be ensured through stricter limits on interstory
drift.
1997 and Subsequent NEHRP Provisions, ASCE 7-
98, ASCE 7-02, and ASCE 7-05, 2000, 2003, and 2006
IBC -
The performance bases of the 1997 NEHRP Provisions, on
which the seismic design provisions of ASCE 7-98 and
subsequent ASCE 7 standards and the IBC are directly
based, are different from the above. Hamburger (8) has
suggested that the performance bases of the 1997 NEHRP
Provisions are as illustrated in Fig. 1, reproduced from
Reference 8.
For ordinary structures, life safety under the design earth-
quake and collapse prevention under the maximum con-
sidered earthquake are ensured by designing the struc-
ture for the effects of code-prescribed seismic forces and
8 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
by conforming to the detailing requirements in the ma-
terials chapters. Enhanced life safety and collapse pre-
vention under the same earthquakes are accomplished
through the device of the Seismic Design Category
(SDC). It may be noted that essential facilities in so-called
near-fault areas are assigned to SDC F, while other near-
fault structures are assigned to SDC E.
The 1997 and subsequent NEHRP Provisions and codes
and standards based on them also assign occupancy
importance factors, I, of 1.25 and 1.5 to assembly build-
ings and essential facilities, respectively, to partly achieve
the higher levels of seismic performance desired for these
structures. The I-values higher than 1.0 have the effect of
reducing the effective R-values, permitting less inelastic
behavior and, consequently, reduced levels of damage.
From SDC A, B to C to D, detailing requirements increase,
and the applicability of certain limited-deformability struc-
tural systems becomes restricted. In SDC D, height limits
begin to apply on certain structural systems, and dynamic
analysis as the basis of design begins to be required for
certain irregular structures.
From SDC D to E to F, detailing requirements do not
change. However, height limits often become more re-
strictive and more and more restrictions apply to irregular
structures. Also, structural redundancy must be consid-
ered in the design of structures belonging to SDC D, E,
and F.
According to Hamburger (8), as shown in Fig. 1, current
U.S. seismic design provisions are supposed to ensure
that ordinary buildings will be immediately occupiable
following “frequent earthquakes,” that essential facilities
will remain operational during and following such earth-
quakes, and that assembly buildings will exhibit perfor-
mance between the above two. These performance ob-
jectives are sought to be met through imposition of limits
on the design story drift, ∆, defined as “the difference of
the deflections of the center of mass on the top and bot-
tom of the story under consideration.” Drift limits for high-
occupancy buildings are typically more stringent than
they are for ordinary buildings; for essential facilities, they
are typically more restrictive than those for high-occu-
pancy buildings.
The Future
Direct performance-based design, where the design pro-
fessional together with the owner or his representative
choose one or more performance objectives (a perfor-
mance objective is a desired performance level at a par-
ticular ground motion severity or seismic demand), and
those objectives then directly drive the design, is still in
the future of the U.S. codes for new buildings. Such a per-
formance-based approach is already available in a stan-
dard for existing buildings (ASCE 41-06) (12).
There is little doubt that such direct performance-based
 Evolution of Seismic Design Provisions in U.S. Building Codes

design is the way of the future. Work on performance-based for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE 7-93, ASCE 7-95,
design more sophisticated than what is incorporated in New York, NY, 1993, 1995, and ASCE 7-98, ASCE 7-02, ASCE
the ASCE 41 document is currently underway in the United 7-05, Reston, VA, 2000, 2002, 2005.
States under the ATC 58 project being conducted by the 8. Hamburger, R.O., “Proposed CRDC Seismic Provisions,” pre-
Applied Technology Council. Provisions for direct perfor- sented to the International Building Code Structural Commit-
mance-based design are likely to replace today's code tee, Orlando, FL, 1997.
provisions where the performance basis is implicit, rather 9. Ghosh, S.K., “Impact of Earthquake Design Provisions of Inter-
than explicit. national Building Code,” PCI Journal, V. 44, No. 3 (May-June,
1999), pp. 90-91.
Author Affiliation
10. Ghosh, S.K., “New Model Codes and Seismic Design,” Con-
President, S. K. Ghosh Associates Inc., Palatine, IL, U.S.A., crete International, V. 23, No. 7 (July, 2001), American Con-
Email: skghosh@aol.com crete Institute, Farmington Hills, MI.
11. Ghosh, S. K., Impact of the Seismic Design Provisions of the
References International Building Code, Structures and Codes Institute,
Northbrook, IL, 2001.
1. International Conference of Building Officials, Uniform Build-
ing Code, Whittier, CA, 1991, 1994, 1997. 12. American Society of Civil Engineers, Seismic Rehabilitation of
Existing Buildings, ASCE 41-06, Reston, VA, 2006.
2. Applied Technology Council, Tentative Provisions for the Devel-
opment of Seismic Regulations for Buildings, ATC Publication
ATC 3-06, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC,
1978.
3. Building Seismic Safety Council, NEHRP (National Earthquake
Hazards Reduction Program) Recommended Provisions for the
Development of Seismic Regulations for New Buildings (and
Other Structures), Washington, DC, 1991, 1994, (1997), (2000),
(2003).
4. International Code Council, International Building Code, Falls
Church, VA, 2000, 2003, 2006.
5. Building Officials and Code Administrators International, The
BOCA National Building Code, Country Club Hills, IL, 1993,
1996, 1999.
6. Southern Building Code Congress International, Standard Build-
ing Code, Birmingham, AL, 1994, 1997, 1999.
7. American Society of Civil Engineers, Minimum Design Loads Fig. 1 Performance Basis of the 1997 NEHRP Provisions

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 9

Precasting:
When, Where, How?
Abstract
Conceptual aspects for using the prefabrication and sev-
eral applications using liner, planar and spatial elements
for civil, industrial and tower structures are illustrated in
the article with a mention of the contractor's necessary
skill and equipment.
Keywords
Prefabrication, Concrete, Prestressing, Composite Struc-
tures, Buildings, Towers.
When?
Correct structural engineering evolves in a series of steps
starting with the definition of the purposes and character-
istics of the work, continuing with the analysis and the
verifications and ending with the preparation of the con-
struction drawings and specifications. This process is an
extremely valid method that lets face and solve in ad-
vance the problems linked to the different design choices,
without having to introduce modifications at a later date
that means forced adaptations and always results in be-
ing more expensive.
Precasting is one of the basic choices that needs to be
made at the very beginning of the design process; the
conversion of a conventional structure into a precast one
very rarely turns out to be the best choice or completely
free of compromises.
One needs to decide on precasting straightaway, evalu-
ating the pros and cons before adopting it or, on the con-
trary, deciding to go for a conventional structure.
However it's always a good idea to also evaluate the alter-
native steel solution for the entire structure or for part of it.
When major buildings are dealt with, all aspects of deci-
sion about precasting must be carefully considered again
at the design stage, because the system and method of
assembly and erection generate temporary actions which
may require changes of the structural sizing. Not to men-
tion the technical/cost effectiveness of such a decision.
The use of precast elements for the load-bearing struc-
tures is today commonplace, when applied to floors by
using mass produced girders or panels, and for medium
span industrial buildings, where there's a wide choice of
10 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
Gian Carlo Giuliani, Italy
secondary and primary solutions for roofs and floors and
for the whole framework.
We should, however, point out that the opportunities to
gain and implement considerable skill and mastery in the
field of concrete constructions are becoming fewer and
fewer and those companies operating in the field of
precasting are often the safe-keepers of the remaining
experience and the necessary aptitudes.
Where?
The well-known advantages offered by precasting (fac-
tory and onsite) for large structures need not be men-
tioned here.
It is worth to note that, very often, non conventional
precasting solutions result in benefits if backed by an ad-
equate constructor skill.
In other cases prefabrication is the unique and rational
choice, which is certainly very challenging for the design
but strongly competitive against the price, the quality and
the delivery time of the conventional construction.
The precasting can be effected in a factory or in the site;
the selection among these solutions depends on a num-
ber of conditions, like the element size, the transport dis-
tance and easiness, the number of similar pieces to be
manufactured and the cost/benefit ratios related with the
existence of factory facilities or with the on site construc-
tion of a plant and accounting for a balance of the ele-
ment transport cost within the above said locations.
How?
To guarantee the final quality of a project, it is often neces-
sary to conceive and design the structure as a precast
construction right from the very start.
Many types of precasting systems and configurations can
be used, being each one suitable for solving different prob-
lems and for complying with the site erection constraints,
the element transport conditions, the available equipment
and know how of the construction firm.
The main types of the above said systems can be grouped
in the following categories according to the main dimen-

sion of the manufactured elements or units: linear, planar
and three dimensional; several relevant examples are
given in the following.
Linear Precasting
Long elements are typically factory produced, in many
cases by using prestressing also, the typical use is for
components of frame skeletons.
Verona's Post Office Building
The prefabricated beam and TT floor units for the Verona's
Post Office building (figures 1a,b) are supported by solid
columns of great height (36 m) and limited cross-section
(0.60x0.80 m). Prestressing was applied to the columns
to assure stability during transportation and erection.
Telecom office building in Bologna
In other buildings, precasting has proved to be an excel-
lent idea for just a few elements, such as in the Telecom
office building in Bologna (figure 2a).
Precast cellular beams span 25 m , bear over the corner
towers and carry the load of 5 or 7 suspended floors
(figures 2b,c); the post tensioning cables are shown in
figure 2d.
Elevated connections for the new Milano Fair
Exhibition Buildings
In this case 36.50 m span, prefabricated, prestressed
beams were used as floor elements overpassing public
streets; the 20.00 m span main beams are composed of a
self supporting steel truss which is integrated with a post-
tensioning cable and embedded in concrete in order to
keep the over all structural depth within the limit of 1.45 m
(figures 3a, b)
Planar Precasting
Because of their size, two dimensional units are typically
prefabricated on site.
Prestressed ribbed precast slabs have been successfully
used in several projects to create floors with a great load
capacity and so avoiding the use of main beams and sec-
ondary elements.
The advantages of using slabs come from the structural
behavior (loads are transferred directly to the columns)
and from the monolithic nature of the element. Not to
mention the considerably reduced number of production,
storage, transportation, erection and in situ assembling
operations
The disadvantages arise from the need to prepare a
precasting plant on site with forms, reaction beams, an
accelerated curing unit and so on. The need of suitable
equipment for handling and erecting large elements, with
unit weights greater than those of normal precast ele-
ments, has to be taken into account also.
Precasting: When, Where, How?
The costs of setting up the above said equipments are
fully compensated by the lower cost of producing similar
elements. According to our experience for a total surface
area to be constructed between 8,000 and 10,000 m2 ,
the solution with in site precast planar units becomes a
competitive alternative to precasting and assembling of
separate elements.
Poli Laboratories building in Rozzano
The prefabricated prestressed ribbed slabs for the four
story Poli Laboratories building in Rozzano were designed
for a superimposed live load of 12 kN/m2 on a 7.20x8.40 m
grid line pattern, while keeping the floor depth at
0.60 m only.
Figures 4a,b show the plates, which were launched on
rails at the ground level and lifted to the top of the precast
columns , and the self stressing form prepared on site.
Roof units for the Milano City Fiera exhibition
center
The roof units for the new Milano Fiera City exhibition cen-
ter span 20 by 20 meters and are designed for the live
load capacity of 6.0 kN/m2; the whole structure was pre-
cast onsite.
Here monolithic plates are being used with single direc-
tion ribs and edge beams (figure 5a); the ribs are pre-
stressed with bonded strands, while post-tensioning
cables are used for the main beams.
Four groups of hydraulic jacks with strand recovery were
used to lift the elements into position.
A self-reacting form (figure 5b) was used and moved on
rails to every new position; the form edge panel was tilted
during this launching to allow passing between the col-
umns.
Space Precasting
The theme of space precasting is a complex one because
of the dimensions of the complete structure and of the
complicated three dimensional joints which are subjected
to groups of in plane and out of plane actions concen-
trated in a reduced area which is located outside the solid
material of the member.
In general the structure can be subdivided in sub-ele-
ments with linear, planar or space forms to obtain the final
space configuration; in any case, the design and the con-
struction of these members, follow criteria which are dif-
ferent from the ones used in the specific above said cat-
egories.
In general large span roofs are not easily solved with the
use of the precast elements currently produced. Shells
capable of covering a span of 20 meters are available, but
the main beams for similar distances between the col-
umns are too thick and appear unsuitable from the start
due to a high roofing load/own weight ratio.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 11
Precasting: When, Where, How?
The use of secondary and main floor precast members for
large spans and the heavy superimposed loads, which
are typical in these building layouts, is impossible also.
New-concepts in the load-bearing system are needed to
optimize the construction system.
Examples of prefabrication of three dimensional structures
are given in the following.
Aeritalia hangar in Turin
For the Aeritalia hangar in Turin, composed of several 30
by 30 meters bays, we designed in factory precast thin
pre-stressed shells (figure 6a,b) which were fitted with stiff-
ening diaphragms at the ends to create the web and the
flanges of the main beams.
The shells were aligned on templates at the site and their
diaphragms were subsequently post stressed in order to
create the edge main beams.
By using hydraulic jacks, the whole 30 by 30 m unit was
then lifted up to the top of the columns and suspended to
the capitals by means of stay cables similar to the ones
used for bridges (figure 6c); the completed hangar is
shown in figure 6d.
Floor units for the Milano City Fiera exhibition center
The first floor of this buildings had to be based on 20 by 20
meters bays for the superimposed live load capacity of 15
kN/m2 and for housing, inside the depth of the structure,
the air intake and exhaust ducts for the ground floor areas
as well as piping and wiring for the at level located stands.
An innovative solution was worked out with the concept of
a composite plate featuring concrete top and bottom
slabs, connected by means of a shear layer composed of
steel pipe struts arranged in a 3D truss pattern.
In this structural configuration, the connection between
the flanges (conventionally created by webs) has been
replaced by struts resisting the axial loads created by the
three components of the shear action (figure 7a).
The space between the two slabs can be accessed for
inspection and plant maintenance.
The bottom slab is ribbed and prestressed with bonded
strands which cross cast iron nodes embedded in the
concrete and the pin connected to the steel pipes of the
shear layer (figure 7b).
The self stressing form was moved on rails to every new
bay position (figures 7c,d).
Precast glass fiber reinforced concrete elements placed
on the cast iron nodes, located where the pipes converge
close to the upper surface, constitute the form for casting
the upper slab (figure 7e, f).
All the ducts, pipes and other equipment were positioned
inside the plate (figure 7g)
12 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
Four groups of hydraulic jacks lifted the completed plate
(weighing a total of 4800 kN, including the already in-
stalled ducts) into position (figure 7h); the floor plates lay
below the roof units (figure 7i)
The columns are an integral part of the structural con-
cept: pre-cast, with an octagonal cross-section. 25 meters
high and weighing 600 kN; the outer columns are is sight
(figure 7k,m).
The support of the composite slab was created by the
introduction of steel-concrete elements in the column with
the necessary recesses to house the bearings, thus allow-
ing for lifting the plates without any overhanging elements
and for a reduction of the column bending due to the
location within the cross-section of the actions transmit-
ted by the bearings (figure 7j).
The completed building is shown in figure 7l.
Air traffic control tower at Malaga airport
Because of its location, the control tower at Malaga air-
port has a strong visual impact and is composed of three-
dimensional shell precast elements for the segments of
the six wide body ribs which constitute the structure (fig-
ure 8g), supports the vertical loads and resist the seismic
and the wind actions.
The above said shells were constructed by using the
"matching concrete" technology (figure 8a), i.e. casting
each element in a form next to another already cast one,
to allow for a "dry" joint erection with a thin layer of epoxy
resin and reinforced by post-tensioned bars (figures 8b,c)
The ramparts for the stairs and the relevant intermediate
landings were precast also.
A service building with an annular shape is located at the
base of the tower and is covered by hypar thin shells which
are supported by X shaped prefabricated elements lo-
cated around the outer facade (figures 8c,d,e).
Because of structural reasons related to the limited thick-
ness of the shells and to the relevant rise to span ratio, the
hypar roof was cast in place.
Air traffic control tower at Barcelona airport
In this case, the use of concrete instead of steel was dic-
tated by the client.
The shaft of the Barcelona airport control tower is consti-
tuted by prismatic elements with axes lying along straight
lines which define a hyperbolic paraboloid; the relevant
rectangular sections have a radial orientation.
The challenge of precasting these elements was even
more demanding, because of the geometry of the shaft
design featuring helicoid surfaces, and of the necessary
detailing of the connections which were engineered with-

out any overhanging parts, (figure 9a,b); because of the
innovative solution the Client required a full scale test (fig-
ure 9c), which confirmed the design assumptions.
The erection was performed using the inner self standing
aluminum stair structure as a template (figure 9d); the
hypar skeleton and the joints got the correct shape (fig-
ures 9e,h).
The shaft structure supports the vertical loads, including
the steel control room (figure 9f,g), and resists the seismic
and the wind actions.
The two story building at the base of the tower(figures
9i,j,l) is ring shaped and is prefabricated also by using
columns, circumference beams, curved facades and sun
shading strips cast with a self compacting concrete mix
with white aggregate and cement.
The completed tower is shown in figure 9m.
a) general view of the skeleton b) 36 m long precast
(columns, beams, floor units) prestressed columns
Fig. 1 a, b Verona's Post Office Building
a) general view
b, c) 25 m span cellular beams bearing over the corner
towers and carrying 5 suspended floors
d) postensioning cables for the cellular beams
Fig. 2 a,b,c,d Telecom Office Building in Bologna
Precasting: When, Where, How?
Conclusions
According to the design and construction experience
earned with the illustrated examples, precast solutions
are very often highly cost effective if the constructor has
the suitable level of expertise required.
In many cases, while it may be far more exacting in terms
of engineering, precasting is the only available choice
because it is far more competitive than on site conven-
tional construction with regard to price, the quality of the
work and construction time.
Author Affiliation
Giuliani, Dr. Eng. Gian Carlo, exclusive Consultant
Redesco srl Milano/Italy gc.giuliani@redesco.it; Giuliani,
Dr. Eng. Mauro Eugenio, exclusive Consultant and General
Manager Redesco srl Milano/Italy me.giuliani@redesco.it
a) Prefabricated Prestressed beams b) Main steel truss-
concrete beams
Fig.3 Elevated connections for the new Milano Fair Exhibition
Buildings
a) prefab.prestressed slabs b). on site self
stressing form
Fig.4 Poli Laboratories Building in Rozzano
a) 20 by 20m roof units scheme b) self stressing form
Fig. 5 a,b New Milano Fiera City Exhibition Building
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 13
Precasting: When, Where, How?

a) in Factory precast thin pre- c) Whole 30 by 30 unit

stressed shells lifted up
a) "Matching Concrete" b) Basement erection
Fig.6 Aeritalia Hangar in Turin
shells

a) Conceptual composition of the multilayer plate

c) Start of shaft erection d) Prefabs and shell

connection

b) Cast iron joint c) Self-stressing form

e) Hypar thin shells roofing the base f) The completed

building tower
Fig.8 Malaga Airport Control Tower:

d) Erection of the forms for the e) Ducts placed inside the

upper slab plate before lifting

a) Twisted elements d) Erection of the c) Prefabricated

prefabricated facade of the
elements using base building
the aluminium
stair structure as
a template
f) The roof and the floor erected g) Column steel elements

d) The assembled e) Control room f) The com-

prefabricated hypar bearing pleted tower
i) The Exhibition building in operation j) Column on the sk eleton (photo by
facade J.Azurmendi)
Fig.7 Floor Units for the milano city fiera Exhibition Center Fig.9 Barcelona Airport Control Tower:

14 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

Cements and Concrete Mixtures
for Sustainability
Abstract
The climate changes, due to man-made global warming
triggered by steeply rising volume of greenhouse gases,
composed mostly of carbon-dioxide, is a very serious is-
sue that is being addressed worldwide by every major sec-
tor of economy. There is a general acceptance of the view
that firm measures must be taken without delay to bring
down the global carbon emissions to the 1990 level or less
during the next 15 years.
The focus of this paper is on portland-cement concrete,
which is the most widely used manufactured product in the
world today. Cement production is not only energy-inten-
sive but also responsible for direct release of nearly 0.9
tonne carbon-dioxide for each tonne of portland clinker,
which is the principal component of modern cements. Fif-
teen years ago, in 1990, the world production of cement
was slightly more than 1 billion tonnes. In 2005, it already
crossed 2 billion tonnes which means that direct CO2 emis-
sions from the portland clinker production have nearly
doubled. Fifteen years from now, with business-as-usual,
the estimated cement requirement would be 3.5 bilion
tonnes, and direct CO2 emissions from cement kilns would
triple the 1990 level. Thus, the challenge before the global
construction industry is how to meet the buildings and in-
frastructure needs of rapidly growing economies of the
world, and at the same time, cutting down the CO2 emis-
sions attributable to cement consumption to the 1990 level,
in conformity with other sectors of economy.
Different options for consideration of the construction in-
dustry are presented in this paper.
The production and use of blended portland cements con-
taining large proportion of complementary cementing ma-
terials, such as coal fly ash and granulated blast-furnace
slag provide an excellent strategy for immediate and sub-
stantial reduction of direct CO2 emissions associated with
the manufacture of portland-cement clinker. Both EU and
North American cement standards now permit more than
50 % clinker replacement in composite cements. Further-
more, the use of composite cements and concrete mixtures
containing large addition of complementary cementing
materials would yield crack-resisting structural elements of
radically enhanced durability. High-volume fly ash concrete
applications for recently built structures in North America
Mehta P. Kumar
are cited as typical examples of possible CO2 reduction.
Sustainability - An Introduction
During the 1990s, it became abundantly clear that indus-
trialization of the world is happening at an unsustainable
speed. Among the major sustainability issues of public
concern are high rates of consumption of energy and ma-
terials, short service life of manufactured products, and lack
of space for safe disposal of huge volumes of solid, liquid,
and gaseous wastes generated by human activities. Glo-
bal warming, the cumulative effect of these problems, has
emerged today as the most serious sustainability issue of
the 21st century.
The term, global warming, refers to the greenhouse-gas
effect leading to a steady increase in the earth's surface
temperature since 1950s. According to a World Watch In-
stitute report, twenty-four of the last 27 years have been the
warmest on record. Weather scientists around the world
have concluded that a linear relationship exists between
the earth's surface temperature and the atmospheric con-
centration of CO2, which makes up 85 % of the green-
house gases. The current CO2 concentration, about 380
ppm (mg/L) in 2005, is the highest in recorded history
(Fig. 1). With business as usual, it is projected to increase
at an exponential rate. In 2006, the annual global CO2
output reached a staggering 30 billion tonnes.
Evidence of global warming is not confined to tempera-
ture measurements. The following list includes some of
the observable effects of the phenomenon:
o A sharp increase in the melting rates of glaciers, polar
caps, and ice sheets.
o Rising ocean levels - a potential threat to coastal popu-
lations.
o Unusual increase in frequency and intensity of rain-
storms, flash floods, cyclones, hurricanes, heat waves,
droughts, and wild fires.
o Adverse impact on current sources of agriculture and
water.
o Disruption of the earth's carbon cycle due to changes in
the botanical species on land and oceans.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 15
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
In a series of reports, issued earlier this year by the United
Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, lead-
ing weather scientists of the world have unequivocally
stated that global warming is occurring, and that it has
been triggered by human activities. They have warned
about devastating consequences of global warming if
immediate action is not taken by national and industry
leaders to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions to the
1990 level or less.
Although climate change is a global phenomenon, it has
to be tackled in every country individually by each of the
major CO2 emitting sectors of economy, such as power
generation, transportation, and energy consumption as-
sociated with the use of buildings, and manufacture of
structural materials like concrete and steel. According to
Kyoto Protocol, proposed in 1990 and signed in 2005 by
141 countries, the signatories agreed to stabilize the green-
house gas emissions by 2012 to 6 % below the 1990 level.
The two largest polluting countries, the U.S. and China,
which are responsible for nearly half of the global CO2
emissions, have yet to show a willingness to commit to
any specific goals. However, in 2005, many multinational
corporations, State governments in the U.S., and over 400
mayors representing 60 million Americans have signed
on to programs that intend to meet or beat the Kyoto tar-
gets by 2020. In September 2006, the State of California
approved the Global Warming Solutions Act according
to which, by 2020, California's CO2 emissions would be
reduced to the 1990 level.
Concrete Industry's Environmental Impact
The subject of environmental impact of the concrete in-
dustry is covered by numerous publications across the
world including those listed in References (1-6). The em-
bodied energy content, i.e., the sum total of energy re-
quired to extract raw materials, manufacture, transport,
and install building elements is only 1.3 MJ/kg for 30 MPa
concrete, compared to 9 MJ/kg for recycled steel and 32
MJ/kg for new steel. However, being the largest manufac-
tured product consumed in the world, quantitatively con-
crete represents considerable embodied energy.
Worldwide today, approx. 17,000 million tonnes of con-
crete is being produced annually. Besides natural re-
sources, such as aggregates and water, the concrete in-
dustry is a large consumer of cement - a manufactured
product directly responsible for high CO2 emissions. In
2005, according to Cembureau, the global cement con-
sumption was 2,270 million tonnes. Therefore, carbon foot-
prints of the global cement industry are very significant
considering the amount of fossil fuels and electrical power
consumed for crushing, grinding and transport of materi-
als, and for the 1400 to 1500 °C burning operation to make
portland clinker - the principal ingredient of hydraulic
cements. The scope of this paper is limited to direct CO2
emissions, of which approx. 6.3 % of the global emissions
are attributable to portland clinker manufacture.
16 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
Co2 Emissions From Cement Kilns
Typically, ordinary portland cement is composed of 95 %
clinker and 5 % gypsum, which is a complementary ce-
menting material (CCM) because it enhances the cement
performance by improving the setting and hardening char-
acteristics of the product. Depending on the carbon con-
tent of fossil fuels used for clinkering, 0.9 to 1.0 tonnes of
CO2 is directly released from cement kilns during the manu-
facture of clinker. In addition to gypsum, sometimes other
mineral additives, commonly known as supplementary ce-
menting materials (e.g., coal fly ash, granulated blast-fur-
nace slag, natural and calcined pozzolans, pulverized lime-
stone, and silica fume) can either be interground with clin-
ker and gypsum or added directly during the concrete mix-
ing operation. Large quantities of these materials are avail-
able as industrial by-products. As discussed in this paper,
when properly used, the mineral additives have the ability
to enhance considerably the workability and durability of
concrete. Therefore, these additives too are treated as
complementary cementing materials (CCM) in this paper.
Global statistics for 1990 and 2005 on cement produc-
tion, CCM consumption, and direct CO2 emission attrib-
utable to portland clinker manufacture, are presented in
Table 1. According to the U.S. Geological Survey records,
the world consumption of cement in 1990 was 1,044 mil-
lion tonnes. From the fragmentary information available it
is estimated that, globally, the average clinker factor of
cement (units of clinker per unit of cement) in 1990 was
0.9, which means that 940 million tonnes of clinker and
104 million tonnes of CCM were used. Assuming the aver-
age CO2 emission rate as 1.0 tonne CO2/tonne clinker, in
1990 the direct CO2 emission from clinker production were
940 million tonnes.
In 2005, due to a gradual increase in the use of CCM, it is
estimated that 370 million tonnes of CCM were incorpo-
rated into 2,270 million tonnes of cement. This gives a
clinker factor of 0.84. Also, in 2005, due to increase in the
use of alternate, low-carbon, fuels for burning clinker, the
average CO2 emission rate dropped to 0.9 tonne per tonne
of clinker. This means that, in 2005, 1,900 million tonnes of
clinker was produced, with 1,700 million tonnes of direct
CO2 release to the environment. In conclusion, the global
cement industry has almost doubled its annual rate of
direct CO2 emissions during the last 15 years.
Reducing The Co2 Emissions
Comparing the 1990 and 2005 global CO2 emissions di-
rectly attributable to clinker production (Table 1), the mag-
nitude of the problem becomes at once clear. Not only the
annual rate of cement consumption in the world has nearly
doubled during the last 15 years but also, at the current
rate of economic growth in many developing countries, by
the end of the next 15 years the cement requirement is ex-
pected to go up to about 3,500 million tonnes a year. As-
suming that during the same period the use of CCM in-

creases from 15 to 20 % of the total cement, the global
clinker production and CO2 emission in 2020 would
amount to 2,800 million tonnes, and 2,520 million tonnes,
respectively. To bring down the CO2 emission from 2,520
to 940 million tonnes (the 1990 level) involves nearly a
two-third reduction in clinker requirement, which is un-
likely barring a global catastrophe.
In the portland clinker manufacturing process, direct
release of CO2 occurs from two sources, namely the
decomposition of calcium carbonate (the principal raw
material) and the combustion of fossil fuels. The former
accounts for about 0.6 kg CO2/kg clinker and the latter
0.25-0.35 kg CO2/kg clinker (depending on the carbon
content of the fossil fuel); the global average being 0.9 kg
CO2/kg clinker. Alternate sources of energy other than
fossil fuels are being sought but, at present, they are too
expensive. Also, there are some cements that do not
require calcium carbonate as a raw material (e.g.,
magnesium phosphate cements) but they are neither
economical nor technically feasible for large-scale
production. Obviously, it will not be possible to achieve
any drastic cuts in CO2 emission as long as technical and
economic reasons favor the use of portland clinker as the
major component of hydraulic cements.
The golden rule or mantra for successful resolution of all
sustainability issues is, "Consume less, and think more."
Based on this mantra, the author proposes the following
three tools, the simultaneous use of which would enable
the cement industry to reduce greatly the direct CO2 emis-
sion attributable to clinker production:
1. Reduce the consumption of concrete: Architects and
structural designers must develop innovative designs
that minimize the consumption of concrete. Service
life of repairable structures should be extended as far
as possible by the use of proper materials and meth-
ods of repair. Low-priority projects should be post-
poned or even canceled when possible. Foundations,
massive columns and beams of concrete, and pre-
cast building components that can be assembled or
dis-assembled as needed, should be made with highly
durable concrete mixtures described in this paper.
2. Reduce the cementing materials in concrete mixtures:
Mix design procedures that involve prescriptive codes
(e.g., minimum cement content, maximum w/cm, and
much higher than needed strength) lead to
considerable waste of cement, besides adversely
affecting the durability of concrete. Such prescriptive
codes have outlived their usefulness and must be
replaced with performance-based specifications that
promote durability and sustainability. For example, to
achieve durability, it is not the w/c but the cement paste
content which should be minimized through optimum
aggregate grading, use of plasticizing admixtures, and
specifying 56 or 91-day strength for the structural
components that do not have to meet a minimum 28-
day strength requirement.
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
3. Reduce the clinker factor of cement: Every tonne of
clinker saved would reduce the direct CO2 release from
cement kilns by an equivalent amount. Furthermore, as
explained below, concrete products made with ce-
ments of low clinker factor are expected to be much
more durable when compared to ordinary portland
cement products.
Imagine if it were possible to enhance the durability of
most cement-based products by factor 10 or more, with-
out using any expensive technology and materials! Un-
questionably, in the long term, this would serve as an ex-
cellent strategy for minimizing the wasteful consumption
of cement and other concrete ingredients for general con-
struction.
Published literature contains numerous reports showing
that high-early strength concrete mixtures used in mod-
ern, high-speed, construction often suffer from lack of du-
rability because they are usually made with high content
of a cementing material and a high clinker factor of ce-
ment. The hardened product contains a heterogeneous
cement paste, with weak interfacial bonding, and is vul-
nerable to cracking from excessive thermal shrinkage and
drying shrinkage. According to Reinhardt (7), to minimize
the shrinkage, volume of the paste (cement plus mixing
water) in concrete should not exceed 290 L/m3. High-
volume fly ash concrete mixtures, described in this paper
are made with cements of low clinker factor (0.4 - 0.5), and
less than 290 L/m3 cement paste content. Therefore, they
can be used for making relatively crack-free products of
excellent durability without any added cost.
What are the Options?
As shown in Table 1, compared to the base year 1990,
global carbon emissions direct from portland clinker
production have already doubled in the past 15 years. If
no serious measures are put into place quickly by the
world's construction industry, i.e. with business-as-usual it
is estimated that the rate of direct carbon emissions from
cement kilns will almost triple in the next 15 years (Table 2,
Option 1). Table 2 also includes data on two other options,
an easy option (Option 2) and a challenging but preferable
option (Option 3). Note that Option 1 (business-as-usual)
data will be used as a reference point for both Options 2
and 3, that are discussed next.
According to Option 2, by 2020, if the global concrete
construction industry is able to reduce the concrete
consumption by 20% (compared to Option 1) and at the
same time increase the CCM utilization to 30% of the total
cement, these steps will have the effect of reducing the
direct CO2 emissions from cement kilns to 1,760 million
tonnes. This is nearly twice as much as the 1990 emissions
rate of 940 million tonnes.
According to Option 3, in 2020, the total cementing mate-
rial (2,100 tonnes) would comprise 1050 million tonnes of
portland clinker and the same amount of complementary
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 17
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
cementing materials. In Table 3, estimates of different
types and amounts of complementary cementing materi-
als that would be available for use in 2020 are given. Note
that coal fly ash is expected to make up 760 million tonnes
or nearly three-fourths of the total CCM. Would such a
large quantity of fly ash be available in 2020? It is difficult
to provide a definite answer, but let us examine the as-
sumptions under which this is possible.
In the foreseeable future, fossil fuels will continue to remain
the primary source of power generation, and due to the
low cost of coal, expansion of the coal-fired power industry
will continue in major coal-producing countries such as
China, India, and the United States. According to one
estimate, approximately 1200 million tonnes of fly ash
would be available in 2020. It would indeed be a
formidable job to ensure that nearly two-thirds of the fly
ash produced by coal-fired power plants is suitable for
use as a complementary cementing material. This goal
can be accomplished, provided the key players, i.e., the
producers of fly ash, the consumers of cement and
concrete, and individuals or organizations responsible for
specifications work together to overcome the problems,
discussed below.
The power sector of the global economy is the largest
single source of carbon emissions in the world. It is esti-
mated that about 7 billion tonnes a year of CO2 is being
released today from the combustion of all fossil fuels, and
that the coal-fired power plants alone generate 2 billion
tonnes of CO2. Besides carbon emissions, according to
Malhotra (5), coal combustion in 2005 generated approxi-
mately 900 million tonnes of solid by-products including
600 million tonnes of fly ash. Due to rapidly changing
rates of fly ash production and use in the two large econo-
mies of the world, China and India, which meet three-quar-
ters of their electrical power requirement from coal-fired
furnaces, accurate data on today's global rates of fly ash
production and utilization are not available. However, a
rough estimate shows that the current rate of fly ash pro-
duction is approximately 750 million tonnes/year, and that
nearly 140 million tonnes/year is being consumed as an
ingredient of blended cements and concrete mixtures.
The remaining fly ash either ends up in low-value applica-
tions, such as road sub-bases and embankments, or is
disposed to landfills and ponds.
When used as a complementary cementing material, each
tonne of fly ash can replace a tonne of portland clinker.
Diverting fly ash from the waste stream and using it to
reduce direct carbon emissions from the cement industry
is like killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, increasing
the utilization of most of the available fly ash as a comple-
mentary cementing material is, unquestionably, the most
powerful tool for reducing the environmental impact of
two major sectors of our industrial economy, namely the
cement industry and the coal-fired power industry.
In spite of proven technical, economic, and ecological
18 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
benefits from the incorporation of high volumes of fly ash
in cements and concrete mixtures, why does the fly ash
utilization rate as a complementary cementing material
remain so low? Obsolete prescriptive codes, lack of state-
of-the-art information to architects and structural design-
ers, and lax quality control in power plants are among
some of the reasons. Also, all of the currently produced fly
ash is not suitable for use as a complementary cementing
material, however cost-effective methods are available to
beneficiate the material that does not to meet the mini-
mum fineness and maximum carbon content require-
ments - the two important parameters by which the fly ash
suitability is judged by the cement and concrete indus-
tries (5).
Sustainable Cements
Sustainable, portland-clinker based cements can be
made with 0.5 or even lower clinker factor using a high
volume of granulated blast furnace slag (gbfs), or coal fly
ash (ASTM Class F or C), or a combination of both. Natu-
ral or calcined pozzolans, in combination with fly ash and/
or gbfs, may also be used. Compared to portland ce-
ment, the high-volume fly ash and slag cements are some-
what slower in setting and hardening, but they are more
suitable for producing highly durable concrete products.
Unfortunately, worldwide, the conventional concrete con-
struction practice is dominated by prescriptive specifica-
tions that do not permit the use of high volume of mineral
additives.
Cements containing a high-volume of complementary ce-
menting materials can now be manufactured in accor-
dance with ASTM C 1157 - a new standard specification
for hydraulic cements, which is performance-based. How-
ever, in North America significant amount of blended port-
land cements are not produced, because it is customary
to add mineral admixtures at the ready-mixed concrete
plants. According to American Coal Ash Association, at
present about 14 million of the available 70 million tonnes/
year fly ash is being used as a complementary cementing
material in concrete mixtures. Reliable estimates are not
available from China and India, however, it is reported
that significant quantities of blended cements containing
20-30 % fly ash, are being manufactured in these countries.
The European Cement Specification EN 197/1, issued in
2002, contains 26 types of blended portland cements in-
cluding three cement types that have clinker factors rang-
ing between 0.35 and 0.64. Type III-A Cement covers slag
cements with 36-65 % gbfs; Type IV-B Cement covers poz-
zolan cements with 36-55 % pozzolans including fly ash,
natural or calcined pozzolanic minerals, and silica fume;
Type V-A Cement covers composite cements containing
18-30 % gbfs plus 18-30 % pozzolans. According to
Cembureau statistics for 2005, the consumption of ordi-
nary portland cement in the European Union countries
has dropped to 30 % of the total cement produced,
whereas blended portland cements containing up to 25
% CCM have captured 57 % of the market share, and

blended cements with more than 25 % CCM are approach-
ing 10 % of the total cement consumption.
Sustainable Concrete Mixtures
For reducing direct carbon emissions attributable to port-
land clinker production, the emerging technology of high-
volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete is an excellent example
showing how highly durable and sustainable concrete mix-
tures, with clinker factor of 0.5 or less, can be produced by
using ordinary coal fly ash (ASTM Class F or Class C),
which are available in most parts of the world in large
amounts. The composition and characteristics of HVFA
concrete are discussed in many publications and are
briefly described below. Note that concrete mixtures with
similar properties can be produced by using a high vol-
ume of granulated blast-furnace slag or a combination of
fly ash and slag, with or without other mineral admixtures.
The cementing material in HVFA concrete is composed of
ordinary portland cement together with at least 50 % fly ash
by mass of the total cementing material. The mix has a low
water content (100-130 kg/m3), and a low content of ce-
menting materials (e.g. 300 kg/m3 for ordinary strength and
max. 400 kg/m3 for high-strength). The plasticizing action
of the high volume of fly ash imparts excellent workability
even at w/cem of the order of 0.4. However, chemical plas-
ticizers are often used, when lower w/cem are required.
Occasionally, an air-entraining admixture is also included
in the mix when protection against frost action is sought.
Compared to portland-cement concrete, the HVFA con-
crete mixtures designed to achieve the same 28-d
strength exhibit superior workability without segregating
even at slump values of 200-250 mm. Typically, the con-
crete is slow in setting and hardening, i.e. develop slightly
lower strength at 3 and 7-d, similar strength at 28-d, and
much higher strength at 90-d and 1-year. The pozzolanic
reaction leading to complete removal of calcium hydrox-
ide from cement hydration products enables the HVFA
concrete to become highly resistant to alkali-aggregate
reaction, sulfate and other chemical attacks, and reinforce-
ment corrosion (due to very low electric conductivity). Fur-
thermore, the HVFA concrete mixtures are much less vul-
nerable to cracking from both the thermal shrinkage (less
heat of hydration), and the drying shrinkage (less volume
of cement paste). Therefore, in addition to very low clinker
factor, the ability of HVFA concrete to enhance the dura-
bility by factor 5 to10 makes it a highly suitable material
for construction of sustainable structures in the future. The
author has been involved with many field applications of
HVFA concrete that are described in earlier publications
(8-11). Three recently built structures in the U.S., with
large reduction in CO2-emissions resulting from the use of
HVFA concrete, are described below.
A Hindu Temple, built with concrete members designed
to endure for 1,000 years or more, was constructed in Chi-
cago in 2003 (Fig. 2). The superstructure of the temple is
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
composed of some 40,000 individual segments of intri-
cately carved white marble (Fig. 2). Unreinforced mono-
lith slabs are a part of the foundation, supported by 250
drilled piers, 9 m high and 1 m diameter. All structural
elements were made with, cast-in-place, HVFA concrete
containing 105 kg/m3 ASTM Type I portland cement and
195 kg/m 3 Class C fly ash, 2 L/m3 polycarboxylate
superplasticizer, and 100 kg/m3 water. Note that the total
cementing material was 300 kg/m3, the clinker factor was
only 0.33, and the w/cem was also 0.33. The fresh mix had
150-200 mm slump and showed excellent pumpability,
which made it possible to place and finish 400 m3 con-
crete for the main prayer-hall slab (22 by 18 by 1 m), in less
than 5 hours. Typical compressive strength values at 3-d,
7-d, 56-d, and 1-y were 10 MPa, 27 MPa, 48 MPa, and 60
MPa, respectively. No structural cracks in any concrete
member were reported. Also, the chloride penetration
permeability, which is an excellent index of long term du-
rability of concrete, was surprisingly low (< 200 coulombs)
in 1-year old core samples. A conventional concrete mix
would have required 400 kg/m3 portland cement to
achieve similar high-strength. The use of 3,000 m3 HVFA
concrete mix resulted in 900 tonnes of portland cement
saving, which corresponds to about 800 tonnes of CO2
emissions reduction.
The Utah State Capitol Building, Salt Lake City, under-
went seismic rehabilitation in 2006 (Fig. 3a). Due to heavily
congested reinforcement in the foundations, floor beams,
and shear walls, a nearly self-consolidating mix contain-
ing 160 kg/m3 ordinary portland cement, 200 kg/m3 ASTM
Class F fly ash, 138 kg/m 3 water, and 1 L/m 3
superplasticizer was used. The clinker factor of this mix
was 0.44, and the w/cem was 0.38. The specified slump
and 28-d compressive strength were 150 mm and 27 MPa,
respectively. The field concrete showed an average of
225 mm slump and 34 MPa strength. It is estimated that
this 4,500 m3 HVFA concrete job, enabled 900 tonnes of
reduction in CO2 emissions attributable to clinker saving.
The CITRIS Building at the University of California at Ber-
keley contains 10,700 m3 HVFA concrete - the largest vol-
ume ever used for construction of a single building. For
foundations and mats, a concrete mix containing 160 kg/
m3 of ASTM Type II portland cement, 160 kg of Class F fly
ash, and 123 kg/m3 water (0.37 w/cem) was used. For
heavily reinforced columns, walls, beams, girders and
slabs, a concrete mix containing 200 kg/m3 ASTM Type II
portland cement, 200 kg/m3 Class F fly ash, and 140 kg/
m3 water (0.35 w/cem) was used. In both cases the clinker
factor is 0.50. The specified compressive strength was 27
MPa @ 28-d for all structural members except the foun-
dations and mats which were designed for a specified
strength of minimum 27 MPa @ 56-d. Note that the con-
crete used for reinforced columns achieved 20 MPa
strength @ 7-d, and nearly 40 MPa @ 56-d. It is estimated
that the choice of HVFA concrete as a structural material
for the CITRIS Building resulted in a reduction of 1950
tonnes of direct CO2 emissions attributable to the low clin-
ker factor of the cementing material.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 19
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
Economic and Technical Barriers
For utilization of high proportions of complementary ce-
menting materials in general construction, human per-
ception appears to be a far more formidable barrier than
actual economic and technical barrier. According to
Meryman and Silman (12):
Sometimes, there is a perception that a "green" material
or practice is more costly, but on further examination, it
proves no to be so; often it is just a matter of getting on the
other side of the learning curve. We must clarify the differ-
ence between life cycle cost and first cost, since many
sustainable products have better life cycle performance.
We need to define the term 'economic' and include the
collateral cost of using non-sustainable practices.
The use of sustainable cements and concrete mixtures,
described in this paper, would undoubtedly produce struc-
tural members of high durability. However, a statistical
life-cycle analysis is not possible because there are no
reliable laboratory tests for quantitative assessment of
long-term durability of field structures. Other major barri-
ers are lack of codes of recommended practice and un-
willingness of structural designers and engineers to be
among the first to champion the use of new materials.
Again, according to Meryman and Silman (12):
How can an underused material or method become tried,
trusted and ultimately the standard? These materials and
methods need advocates. As technical professionals,
structural engineers can use specifications to communi-
cate a commitment to and confidence in more sustain-
able choices. By taking responsibility for those practices,
we become their advocates.
From my own personal experience, I confirm the observa-
tions of Meryman and Silman. I have come to the conclu-
sion that it is the hand that writes the specifications which
holds the power of leading the concrete construction in-
dustry to an era of sustainability. Codes of recommended
practice advocated by organizations, such as American
Concrete Institute and U.S. Green Building Council, can
play an important part in accelerating the sustainability of
the concrete industry. For instance, the USGBC point-
rating system for new construction has already become a
powerful driving force for sustainable building designs.
The rating system awards sufficient points for buildings
that would consume less energy in their use. A similar
emphasis is needed in favor of sustainable materials that
produce less CO2 during their manufacture. By suitably
amending the rating system so that some points based
on CO2 emissions reduction are directly assigned for the
use of sustainable materials in new construction, the
USGBC can help sustainability of the cement and con-
crete industries.
Concluding Remarks
The high carbon dioxide emission rate of today's industri-
20 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
alized society has triggered climate change that is po-
tentially devastating to life on the planet earth. To meet
the global concrete demand, which was 17 billion tonnes
in 2005, two billion tonnes of CO2 were directly released to
the atmosphere from the manufacturing process of port-
land-cement clinker, which is the major component of
modern hydraulic cements. With business-as-usual, the
direct CO2 emissions from portland clinker production, in
the year 2020, would triple the 1990 level unless immedi-
ate steps are taken to bring down the emissions by mak-
ing significant reductions in the: (a) global concrete con-
sumption, (b) volume of cement paste in concrete, and
(c) proportion of portland clinker in cement.
Examples of recently built structures prove that by using
high volume of coal fly ash and other industrial wastes as
complementary cementing materials with portland clin-
ker, we can produce low cost, highly durable, and sustain-
able cements and concrete mixtures that would signifi-
cantly reduce both the carbon footprints of the cement
industry and the environmental impact of the coal-fired
power generation industry.
It seems that the game of unrestricted growth, in a finite
planet, by reckless use of energy and materials, is over.
Most sectors of the global economy have already initi-
ated action plans to bring down their share of carbon
emission to the 1990 level or less, by the year 2020. The
construction industry is already pursuing the goal of de-
signing and constructing sustainable buildings that con-
sume less energy and resources to maintain. Now, all
segments of the construction industry - owners, design-
ers, contractors, and cement and concrete manufactur-
ers - will have to join the new game of building sustainable
structures using only sustainable materials.
We have the tools to win this game. What is needed now is
the will and the individual initiative. To paraphrase John
F. Kennedy, "Ask not what others can do. Ask what you
can do to promote the use of sustainable construction
materials."
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Mason Walters of Forell
Elsesser Engineers, San Francisco, for the photographs
in Figs. 3 and 4.
Author Affiliation
Mehta Prof. P. Kumar <pkmehta@berkeley.edu> Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
References
1. P.K. Mehta, and P.J.M. Monteiro, "Concrete: Microstructure, Prop-
erties, and Materials", McGraw-Hill, New York, 2006
2. ACI Board Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development,
"White Paper on Sustainable Development", Concrete Interna-
tional, American Concrete Institute, Vol. 27 No. 2, 2005, pp. 19-21

3. The Concrete Center of U.K., "Sustainable Concrete",
www.concretecenter.com, 2007, 18 pages
4. World Business Council for Sustainable Development, "The Ce-
ment Sustainability Initiative", www.wbcsdcement.org, Geneva,
Switzerland, 2007
5. V.M. Malhotra, "Reducing CO2 Emissions", Concrete Interna-
tional, American Concrete Institute, Vol. 28 No. 9, 2006, pp.
42-45
6. P.K. Mehta, "Greening of the Concrete Industry for Sustainable
Development", ibid., Vol. 24 No. 7, 2002, pp. 23-28
7. H.W. Reinhardt, "New German Guideline for Design of
Concrete Structures for Containment of Hazardous Materials",
Otto Graf Journal, FMPA, Univ. of Stuttgard, Germany, Vol. 17,
2006, pp. 9-17
*Estimated amounts of CCM used in 1990 and 2005 are 10 % and
15 % of total cementing material, respectively.
Table 1 Global Direct CO2 Emission from Cement Kilns (Million
Tonnes)
Table 2 Estimates of Global Cement Consumption in 2020,
and Direct CO2 Emissions from Cement Kilns (Million Tonnes)
Table 3 Estimated Consumption of Complementary Cement-
ing Materials (Million Tonnes)
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability
8. P.K. Mehta and W.S. Langley, "Monolith Foundation Built to Last
a 1,000 Years", Concrete International, American Concrete Insti-
tute, Vol. 22 No. 7, July 2000, pp. 27-32
9. D. Manmohan and P.K. Mehta, "Heavily Reinforced Shear Walls
and Reinforced Foundations Built with Green Concrete", ibid.,
Vol. 24 No. 8, 2002, pp. 64-70
10. P.K. Mehta and D. Manmohan, "Sustainable, High-Performance
Concrete Structures", ibid., Vol. 28 No. 7, 2006, pp. 37-42
11. V.M. Malhotra and P.K. Mehta, "High-Performance, High-Vol-
ume Fly Ash Concrete", Supplementary Cementing Materials
for Sustainable Development, Ottawa, Canada, 2002
12. H. Meryman and R. Silman, "Sustainable Engineering - Using
Specifications to Make it Happen", Structural Engineering In-
ternational, Vol. 14 No. 3, Aug. 2004, pp 216-219
Fig. 1 Historical and Future Atmospheric CO2, Based on
IPCC Reports (1)
Business-as-usual scenario
Fig. 2 The BAPS Hindu Temple, Chicago, 2004
High-Volume Fly Ash was Used for
Unreinforced Monolith Foundations and Drilled Piers
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 21
Cements and Concrete Mixtures for Sustainability

Fig. 3a Utah State Capitol Building After Seismic

Rehabilitation, 2006
High-Volume Fly Ash was Used for Reinforced Foundations, Fig. 4a CITRIS Bldg., Univ. of California, 2007
Beams, and Shear Walls Mat Foundation Under Construction

Fig. 3b Utah State Capitol Building After Seismic

Rehabilitation, 2006
Excellent Pumpability and Workability of Nearly Self- Fig. 4b CITRIS Bldg., Univ. of California, 2007
consolidating Concrete Mixture Heavily Reinforced Columns Under Construction

22 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

When Structures Move
Abstract
In the present paper moving aspects of structures are
taken up. In our daily structural design the structures are
assumed to be immovable, and most of structural calcu-
lations are carried out on the basis of static principles.
Although we know that a structure always produces such
a movement due to loading that is referred to as deforma-
tion or displacement, its magnitude is normally too small
to be significant in comparison with the dimensions of the
structure, and its effect on the structural behaviors is ne-
glected, the whole phenomenon being treated as static.
There are cases, however, where large movements are
actually experienced by our structures due to different
reasons. Many of them are due to excessive loading and
unexpected instability, often leading to collapse of the
structures. Some other cases are related to vibration where
resonance of structures with external agencies such as
earthquakes and wind is a key question. Self-excited os-
cillation sometimes produces catastrophic and very spec-
tacular motion of structures. Controlled motions can be
obtained by adopting isolators to cope with the effects of
earthquakes. Dampers which are often incorporated in
seismic isolation systems are normally rather still, but
motion of tuned mass dampers is sometimes very signifi-
cant. Structures can be designed to be assembled on the
ground and then hoisted to the position. In erection of
such structures a big movement is observed as in
Pantadome System. Finally those structures which are
originally intended to move are described with examples
of rocking stones and a flying carp.
Keywords: moving structures, collapse, excessive defor-
mation, controlled motion, earthquake isolation, self-ex-
cited oscillation, Pantadome system, tuned-mass damp-
ers, pendulum system
Undesirable Movements
There are unfavorable movements which poor structures
have to experience under some undesirable conditions.
They are movements due to excessive snow loads, earth-
quakes, wind, structural deterioration and so on, and those
movements have different characteristics due to the na-
tures of the causes.
Collapsing Movements due to Snow Loads
Structures standing on the principle of arches and domes
are sometimes in danger of yielding collapsing move-
ments due to unstable deformation of the compressive
members.
Kawaguchi, Prof. Mamoru
One of such examples is the dome for a trade center in
Bucharest which collapsed in January 1963 (Fig.ures.1
and 2). The dome had a spherical shape to cover a plan of
93.5m in diameter. The dome experienced a huge "snap-
through" deformation, or a deformation from convex to
concave geometries under the snow load of 2,000 kN which
was less than 30% of the design snow load.
Another example of this kind is a collapse of the hanging
roof of "Palasport" in Milan which occurred in January 1985
(Figures 3 and 4). It had a circular plan of 128m in diam-
eter. The presumed snow load on the roof at the time of
collapse was 1.4 kN/m2 while the standard snow load
was 0.9kN/m2 . The roof of this velodrome was a saddle-
shaped hanging roof that should have more sufficient
potential strength, but the collapse was caused by the
buckling of the ring beam the section of which had been a
box section of thin steel plates.
In the above examples the structures must have experi-
enced very large movements during the collapse, but no
such movements were visually recorded. There are many
other examples of structural collapse due to snow loads,
but observation records of the collapsing movements are
scarce. In general the visual records of collapsing move-
ments of large-span roofs due to snow are difficult to make,
since firstly it is not easy to anticipate the time of collapse
which often occurs at a lower loading level than in design,
and secondly weather and shooting condition are bad
because of snow falling and snow drift.
Destructive Movements due to Earthquakes
Earthquakes make structures produce significant move-
ments which are often destructive. Different from the ef-
fects of snow, earthquakes are not loading on the struc-
tures but vibrational motion of the grounds on which the
structures stand. Therefore the motion induced in the struc-
tures by earthquakes is closely related to the vibrational
characteristics of the structures, and when the natural
periods of the structure are close to those of the prevailing
ground motion, the motion of the structures can be de-
structive. On the other hand this type of motion can often
be controlled by means of vibration technology. The ideal
case of such a control is seismic isolation, as will be de-
scribed later.There have been so many destructive mo-
tions of structures due to earthquakes, and some of them
have been recorded numerically in the form of accelera-
tion data, but visual records of such motions are again
very scarce because of the facts that prediction of de-
structive earthquakes is again very difficult and that pho-
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 23
When Structures Move
tographers are also in danger of their lives during the se-
vere earthquakes.
Uncontrolled Movements due to Wind
In design of comparatively rigid structures we treat the
effects of wind as static loads. When a structure is soft,
however, we have to take into account dynamic effect of
wind, and motions of the structure due to this effect.
Dynamic effect of wind due to disturbance in the wind
flow itself is sometimes referred to as buffeting or gusty
effect, and resonance of the structure with this effect is
often discussed.
Another and more important effect of wind is vortex-in-
duced vibration, and still more important is self-excited
oscillation or flutter starting from the vortex-induced vi-
bration. In such a motion the structure takes in energy
from constant air flow around it to grow the motion until it
becomes catastrophic. The collapse of Tacoma Narrows
Bridge is explained as the result of such phenomena (Fig-
ures. 5 and 6). In general the magnitude as well as the
mode of self-excited motion is very big and exceeds our
imagination, often being even spectacular. Such motions
are comparatively easy to record visually, since the time
of strong wind can be predicted, the motion of this kind
lasts for relatively long time and the photographer is not
always in a dangerous situation.
Controlled Movements
Seismic Isolation
Seismic isolation is a technology to control the response
of structures due to earthquake ground motion. The isola-
tion technology is normally applied in combination with
energy-absorbing damping systems. The most popular
seismic isolation system is the laminated rubber shoes
that support the structures. However, there are other iso-
lation systems effective to control seismic motions in more
rational manners than laminated rubber system, which
will be described in this section.
Pendulum Isolators
A pendulum system is one of the basic methods of seis-
mic isolation, having the same fundamental principle in
common with seismographs. As shown in Figure 7, pen-
dulums used in engineering include (a) simple pendu-
lum, (b) physical pendulum, and
(c) translational pendulum.
It is well known that the natural period T of a simple pen-
dulum is given as follows with the
length of the hanger L, and the gravitational
acceleration g.
(1)
24 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
One advantage of a pendulum seismic isolator is that the
length of the hanger L is the only parameter governing its
natural period, and the mass of the object to be isolated
exerts no effect on it at all. Thus, desired periods can be
obtained by simply changing the hanger length. This is the
greatest advantage of pendulum seismic isolators com-
pared to laminated rubber seismic isolators in which the
natural period is determined by the mass and rigidity of
isolation structure.
The natural period is slightly elongated if the amplitude is
made larger. The elongation, however, is minute. Thus, the
above equation (1) can be considered valid for all practical
cases. This is another advantage of the pendulum seismic
isolator compared to the laminated rubber system, of which
the deformability is limited. Wide selection of materials is
available for the hanger. For example, technology for fire-
proofing has already reached a mature state if steel is to be
used. As discussed above, seismic isolators using pendu-
lum principle possess considerable merit.
Considering that seismic isolators must also function as a
part of structural support, simple pendulum shown in (a) of
Figure7 is obviously difficult to use. Natural period of physi-
cal pendulum shown in (b), on the other hand, fluctuates
along with the location of center of mass as well as the
moment of inertia of the system. Thus, translational pendu-
lum shown in (c), whose natural period is only affected by
the hanger length as in the simple pendulum, would be
appropriate for use as a seismic isolation device.
One possible application of the translational pendulum seis-
mic isolator is for individual floors. A floor suspended from
a girder of a building frame as shown in Figure 8 was
adopted for the exhibition rooms of an actual museum for
pottery and porcelain wares (in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, com-
pleted in 2001). The area of the suspended floor is about
1,000 m2, and its mass is about 1,000 tons. Hinges having
universal joints are used for the upper and lower ends of
the hanger. If the hanger is made to be 4.5 m long, Equa-
tion (1) yields a natural period of more than 4 seconds, which
is considered sufficiently long for seismic isolation. A se-
ries of seismic isolation tests showed that the system was
effective to minimize the seismic effects on the floor.
Rocking Pendulum Isolators
A paddle isolator is based on a rocking pendulum prin-
ciple, the concept of which has a long history. The first
example of isolated foundations in Japan was designed
by Ryuichi Oka in 1932, as a column having a spherical
end at the bottom and connected to the superstructure
via a spherical hinge at the top. Due to rocking motion of
the column, the superstructure moves in a trochoidal curve.
This concept, however, was impractical as production of
spherical elements required considerable skill and man-
hours, and column design sometimes interfered with overall
architectural planning. In the present design rocking mo-
tion of the sphere was resolved into the orthogonal com-

ponents along the X- and Y-axes on a plane coordinate.
Then, a mechanism was designed which assigns the com-
ponents of the rocking motion in the directions of X- and Y-
axes to the upper and lower ends of a column. Paddle iso-
lator was named after a kayak paddle, as the form of the
present column resembles it. As shown in Figure 9, a paddle
isolator consists of a column provided with "blades" on the
top and bottom ends whose curvatures are designed to be
orthogonal to each other. This column allows resolution of
any horizontal motion in an arbitrary direction into two di-
rections, and the isolated part of the building is free to move
in the horizontal direction. Referring to Figure 10, the natu-
ral period of a rocking pendulum is determined by the length
of the isolation column L and the radius of curvature of a
blade R, and can be obtained by Equation (2).
(2)
One of the features of the rocking pendulum isolator is that
its natural period is not governed by the mass of structure
to be supported or any mechanical properties of the mate-
rials used in the isolator, similar to the translational pendu-
lum isolator. On the other hand, the paddle isolation col-
umn may be designed with any length, unlike the transla-
tional pendulum isolator. As such, isolating layer may ei-
ther be placed just underneath the foundation, or the entire
ground floor may be designed as an isolating layer.
This enables design of seismic isolators having longer pe-
riods, which were conventionally deemed impossible.
In order to confirm the effect of the paddle isolators, acrylic
specimens (shown in Figure 12, the floor panel being 40
cm by 40 cm) were manufactured and tested. The test re-
sults indicated fairly constant natural periods for paddle iso-
lators, regardless of the amplitude of the given motion or
the mass of superstructure. Furthermore, the torsion move-
ment was hardly observed even when the mass supported
by the isolation layer was largely shifted off the center. Fig-
ure 11 shows the rates of the observed acceleration re-
sponses when the seismic motion based on the records of
the actual earthquakes were applied to the vibration table.
As shown, response in the upper part of the isolating layer
was reduced sufficiently. It was also confirmed that the ef-
fect is not influenced by the direction of input seismic mo-
tion.
Damping Systems
Damping systems are often used in combination with seis-
mic isolators, but they are of course used by themselves
as well for the purpose of energy absorption. Most com-
monly used in vibration control are viscous, frictional, hys-
teretic and tuned-mass dampers. The first three of the
above dampers control the vibrational motion of the struc-
tures by dissipating the energy in the form of heat, while
the tuned-mass dampers transform the energy of their
When Structures Move
mother systems into the motion of themselves. So the ef-
fect of tuned-mass dampers can be visually confirmed by
means of scaled model tests, where the transfer of motion
from the structure to the dampers is clearly observed.
Human-Induced Vibration
Soft footbridges often produce significant vibrational mo-
tion that is induced by the movement of pedestrians cross-
ing the bridges. It is interesting to note that when the move-
ment of the bridge, especially the transverse horizontal com-
ponent of which is big enough to be felt by the pedestrians,
they are apt to try to secure themselves by tuning their steps
to the period of the motion of the bridge, resulting in ampli-
fication of the bridge motion. Vibration of Millennium Bridge
in London was a typical example, which was solved by in-
corporating a passive damping system in the bridge.
Designed Movements
Pantadome System
Structures are sometimes designed to move during con-
struction for safe, efficient and economical erection. A pat-
ented structural system called 'Pantadome System' was
developed by the author with such an idea for a rational
construction of spatial structures, and it was successfully
applied to the structure of World Memorial Hall completed
in Kobe in 1984. Pantadome System has since been ap-
plied to the Sant Jordi Sports Palace in Barcelona, the Na-
tional Indoor Stadium of Singapore and some important
structures of wide spans realized in Japan. The principle of
Pantadome System is to make a dome or a domical struc-
ture geometrically unstable for a period in construction so
that it is 'foldable' during its erection. This can be done by
temporarily taking out the members which lie on a hoop
circle. Then the dome is given a 'kinematic mechanism',
that is, a controlled movement, like a 3-D version of a paral-
lel crank or a 'pantagraph' which is popularly applied to draw-
ing instruments or a power collector of an electric car (hence
the name, 'Pantadome'). By 'folding' the dome in this way,
the constituent members of the dome can be assembled
on a lower level. The assembly work is thus done safely,
quickly and economically, since it can be carried out near
the ground level. Since the movement of a Pantadome dur-
ing erection is a 'controlled one' with only one freedom of
movement in the vertical direction, guying cables or brac-
ing members which are indispensable in conventional struc-
tures to assure their lateral stability against wind or seismic
forces are not necessary in erection of a Pantadome struc-
ture. The movement and deformation of the whole shape of
the Pantadome during erection are three dimensional and
may look spectacular and rather complicated, but they
are all kinematically determinate and easily controlled.
Three kinds of hinges are incorporated in the Pantadome
System which rotate during the erection. Their rotations
are all uni-axial ones, and of the most simple kind. There-
fore, all these hinges are fabricated in the same way as
normal hinges for usual steel frames.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 25
When Structures Move
Rocking Stones
Rocking stones are stones originally created by Nature
that are movable by human power, or at least looking to
be movable. Here is an example of artificial rocking stone
of 36tons that can be moved by a little child. Repetitive
push of the child in tune with the period of the rocking
stone brings the stone into a motion of slow but significant
amplitude.
Flying Carp
The "KOINOBORI" is a Japanese traditional carp made of
fabric which people fly in the breeze in early days of May
every year to celebrate the growth of children. The normal
size of a KOINOBORI is 2 to 5 meters in length. KAZO is a
town in the suburb of Tokyo that has been famous for its
production of KOINOBORI since more than one hundred
years ago. We can still see excellent craftsmen who hand-
paint beautiful KOINOBORIS in factories of KAZO City.
In 1988 volunteers of KAZO City, who were members of
Junior Chamber International, got an idea of fabricating
and flying a gigantic KOINOBORI of 100m to advertise
their city to the world. However, they did not know how to
produce such a huge carp properly. They did not even
know if such a monstrous feature might "fly" in the air at all.
The author had an opportunity to assist them by estab-
lishing the technical basis for the possibility of flying this
gigantic fabric fish in the air. He showed by theory as well
as experiments that a huge KOINOBORI could be de-
signed to fly in the breeze of the same wind speed at
which normal carps fly. By this design theory and struc-
tural details a huge KOINOBORI was designed, it was
fabricated by the voluntary members of KAZO City, and
finally it succeeded to fly elegantly in the sky. Since then
flying of the Jumbo KOINOBORI became an annual event
of KAZO City, being celebrated in the beginning of May
every year.
Conclusive Remarks
Moving aspects of structures have been described. Al-
though structures are normally regarded stationary, there
are many cases where structures move significantly. The
most undesirable motion of a structure is the one due to
collapsing effects of external agencies such as snow, earth-
quake, terrorism and deterioration of materials. Structures
sometimes produce uncontrolled motion due to wind ef-
fects The most dramatic motion is observed when struc-
tures show self-excited vibration often started by Kármán
Vorticies as in the catastrophic example of Tacoma Nar-
rows Bridge. Since the task of structural engineers is to
create strong and safe structures, we should be aware of
those undesirable movements and should always try to
find the means to cope with those phenomena. Some-
times we can make the motion of structures controlled
one. This can be achieved by means of seismic isolation
to cope with earthquakes, and general dampers to cope
with other vibrational effects.
26 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
We can also design the structures so that they experience
significant movements in the process of construction for
the sake of safety, efficiency and economy of construction,
as in the example of Pantadome System. Movement is
sometimes the intended function to be performed by a struc-
ture. One of such cases is an artificial rocking stone of
36tons which the author designed to be moved by a little
child. Another example is a huge fabric carp of 100m in
length that can fly in the breeze, fabricated by volunteers of
a small town in the suburb of Tokyo under the technical
guidance of the author.
Although it is impossible for those volunteers of the small
town to make a jumbo jet aircraft, they could fabricate a
carp which is much bigger than Boeing 747, and fly it in the
breeze of Kasiserslautern in Germany as well as of their
hometown where they have been playing with it for eigh-
teen years.
Author Affiliation
Mamoru Kawaguchi, KAWAGUCHI & ENGINEERS,
mk@kawa-struc.com
References
1. A. Beles et al (1966), "Some Observation on the Failure of a
Dome of Great Span", st International Conference of Spade
Structures, University of Surrey
2. S. Montague (1985), "Milan Roof is Total Write Off", New Civil
Engineer, April 25
3. E.B.Farquharson, et al., "Aerodynamic Stability of Suspension
Bridges with Special Reference to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge"
Bul. Of Univ. Washington Eng. Exp. Station, No.116, 1949-1954.
4. M. Kawaguchi, I. Tatemichi (2000), "Seismic Isolation Systems
and Their Application in Space Structures", IASS Symposium
on Bridging Large Spans; From Antiquity to the Present,
Istanbul
5. M. Kawaguchi, I. Tatemichi (2000), "Characteristics of A Space
Structure Seismically Isolated by Rocking Pendulums", IASS-
IACM 2000, Fourth International Colloquium on Computation
of Shell & Spatial Structures, June 2000, Chania, Greece
6. M. Kawaguchi (2003), "Physical Models as Powerful Weapons
in Structural Design", IASS Symposium on Shell and Spatial
Structures from Models to Realization, Montpellier, Septem-
ber, 2003
Fig. 1 Bucharest Dome before Fig. 2 Dome after Collapse
Collapse or Big Motion
 When Structures Move

Fig. 3 Palasport before Fig.4 After Big Motion due to

Collapse Ring Buckling

Fig. 5 Oscillating Tacoma Fig. 6 Kármán Vorticies in

Narrows Bridge Wind T. Test

Fig.7 Different Pendulums

Fig.11 The Effect of Isolation

Fig.12 Paddle Isolator

Fig.8 Concept of Isolated Floors

Fig. 10 Dimensions Fig.13 The Both Paddle Isolators Have the Same Period of
Fig.9 Paddle Isolator of Isolator Vibration

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 27

When Structures Move

Fig. 14. Non-vertical Hoisting of A Dome

Fig. 16 Artificial Rocking Stone in Tsukuba

Fig. 17 Comparative Dimension of 100m long Jumbo

Fig. 15 Rocking Stone in Colorado, USA KOINOBORI

28 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

Consequences of Ignoring or
Mis-Judging the Size Effect in
Concrete Design Codes and Practice
Abstract
Except for huge unreinforced structures, Weibull's statisti-
cal size effect is weak in concrete structures. The size ef-
fect source is principally energetic, caused by stress redis-
tribution due to a large fracture process zone size or large
cracks formed before maximum load. It is shown that an
unbiased statistical analysis of the existing database for
shear of R.C. beams without stirrups supports the energetic
size effect theory, and that the size effect, albeit milder, af-
flicts beams with stirrups, too. Known though has this type
of size effect been for 24 years, it has been mostly ignored
in design codes as well as practice. What are the conse-
quences? -overdesign of many small structures but, more
seriously, unacceptable risk for large ones. A tolerable fail-
ure probability of engineering structures is 10-6 per lifetime,
and collapse statistics indicate that this has indeed been
true for small structures. Probabilistic analysis calibrated
by a large statistical database confirms this level of failure
probability for shear of reinforced concrete beams without
stirrups < 0.2 m deep. However, if the size effect is ignored
(as in ACI code), the failure probability is shown to increase
drastically-to 10-3 for beams 1 m deep (and nearly as much
for the unrealistic underestimating formulae of CEB, fib and
JSCE). This finding roughly matches several statistics show-
ing that very large structures have been collapsing with a
frequency roughly 103-times greater than small ones. This
is unacceptable. Now that no longer just a handful of theo-
reticians, but entire scientific societies and concrete frac-
ture committees (IA-FraMCoS, ASCE-EMD, ACI Comm.
446), are convinced of the inevitability of energetic size ef-
fect in brittle failures of concrete structures, the engineer-
ing societies ignoring or severely underestimating the size
effect in their design codes, and perhaps even design firms,
are exposed to serious legal risk when another collapse
occurs.
Keywords: size effect, structural safety, reinforced concrete,
shear failure, fracture, statistical analysis of test data, de-
sign codes, legal risk.
Introduction
Concrete structures much larger than the specimens
tested in laboratories are being built in ever increasing
numbers. For example, the box girder of the record-span
Koror-Babeldaob Bridge in Palau, which collapsed in a
brittle shear-compression mode, was 14.2 m deep. The
outriggers of the Trump Tower under construction in Chi-
cago are 6 m deep. However the experimental databases
collected to establish design code specifications consist
mostly of small-size laboratory tests. The mean beam
depth in the ACI-445 database (1) on which the shear
design in the current ACI standard 318 still rests is only
0.34 m, and in the latest ACI-445 database (2) it is 0.345
m. In the latter, 86% of the 398 data points pertain to beam
depths < 0.5 m and 99% to depths < 1.1 m, and only 1%
to depths from 1.2 to 2 m. Since the code-making com-
mittees prefer to rely on experiments only, it is thus no
surprise that the size effect is not correctly represented.
Concrete is an archetypical quasibrittle material whose
fracture propagation is characterized by a rather large
fracture process zone (FPZ), typically 0.5 m long. This
causes that small structures (cross section ? FPZ length)
fail in a quasi-ductile manner (i.e., with a plastic yield pla-
teau) and exhibit almost no size effect, while very large
structures (>> FPZ length) failing in concrete rather than
steel behave in an almost perfectly brittle manner, with a
steep load drop right after the peak load, and exhibit the
strongest possible size effect (3-6); Fig. 1. The size effect
has been most studied for shear of longitudinally rein-
forced beams without stirrups (7, 8), but it also occurs in
shear of beams with stirrups, in torsion, punching of slabs,
failure of columns, arches and prestressed girders due to
concrete compression, failure of anchors and splices, and
bar pullout (8, 9). Accumulating experimental evidence
(10-20) shows that the size effect causes beams about 2
m deep to fail at loads much lower than that calculated
from the design code using the understrength factor ϕ =
0.75 and the required concrete strength (about 30% less
than the mean strength). For instance, the largest beam
in Toronto tests (3, 4) had a shear strength almost 50%
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 29
Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
lower than what is calculated from ACI design code (21);
see Fig. 1(a). This strength reduction due to size effect
now causes serious concern about the safety of current
design codes and engineering practice.
To make the risk of structural failure much smaller than
various inevitable risks that people face, the maximum tol-
erable failure probability is about 1 in a million (22). This
value roughly agrees with the frequency of failures experi-
enced for small beams. But for large ones, it has been about
1 in a thousand (23, 24) and could become 1 in a hundred
or higher as ever larger beams are being built. Whether or
not such unacceptable risk will have to be tolerated de-
pends largely on taking the size effect properly into account.
This is an issue of paramount significance for concrete en-
gineering.
Risk of Failure in Shear Design
The ACI Building Code (21) currently specifies the contri-
bution of concrete to the cross-section shear strength of
reinforced concrete members by the formula
(1)
(which is valid only in psi, lb. and inches). Here f'c is the
required compression strength of concrete, d is the beam
depth measured from the top face to the longitudinal re-
inforcement centroid, and bw is the web width. The code
formula gives a size-independent average concrete shear
strength, vc = Vc / bw d (identical to the 'nominal strength'
in mechanics terminology). However, ignoring the size ef-
fect in Eq. (1) would lead to statistically dangerous de-
signs with insufficient safety margins for large shear-criti-
cal concrete beams. We evidence it next.
Recently, a database of 398 tests, serving as the experi-
mental foundation for the improvement of current shear
design formula, was compiled by ACI subcommittee 445F
(2) and named ESDB. Representing an extension of the
1984 Northwestern University database of 296 data (7), it
collects 398 shear strength data for longitudinally rein-
forced three-point-bend concrete beams with no stirrups
(the Japanese tests reaching the record depth of d = 3 m
were excluded by ACI 445 from this database because
the load was uniform rather than concentrated at midspan).
In Fig. 2(a), the data in the size range of d from 0.1 to 0.3 m,
centered at 0.2 m, are isolated from the database. Within
this narrow range, no size effect trend is discernible, and
so the data may be treated as a statistical population. The
mean and coefficient of variation of the data
on within this range are
and ω=25% (this relatively high value
of ω is the consequence of unsystematic, haphazard, vari-
ability of many influencing parameters in the database). The
values of and ω suffice for determining the probability
30 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
density distribution function (pdf) of y in this range. The
pdf is assumed to be log-normal. In that regard, note that
if the randomness of failure loads of small plastically be-
having specimens was caused only by the inevitable in-
herent randomness of material strength, the only correct
choice of pdf would be the normal (or Gaussian) distribu-
tion (25). In the case of general design formula, however,
the major contribution to the scatter seen in Fig. 2(a) stems
from the variation of influencing parameters such as the
shear span ratio a/d, steel ratio ρw and steel arrangement,
aggregate size da, concrete mix, age of concrete, history
of humidity and temperature, etc. The variability stem-
ming from these parameters apparently follows more
closely the log-normal than normal distribution.
The same pdf is compared in Fig. 2(a) to the series of
individual tests of beams of various sizes made at the
University of Toronto (3, 4), which have been invoked by
some engineers to claim that the size effect may be ig-
nored for d up to 1 m (for this depth, the shear strength of
the Toronto beam lies just above where =
0.75 = understrength factor).
Now it should be noted that, for the type of concrete, steel
ratio, shear span ratio, etc., used in the Toronto tests, their
shear strength value lies (in the logarithmic scale) at cer-
tain distance a below the mean of the pdf. Since the width
of the scatter band in Fig. 2(a) in the logarithmic scale does
not vary appreciably with the beam size, the same pdf and
the same distance a between the pdf mean and the Toronto
data must be expected for every beam size d, including the
sizes of d = 1 m and 1.89 m, for each of which there is only
one data point. In other words, if the Toronto test for d = 1
m were repeated for many different types of concrete, steel
ratios and shear span ratios, humidity and temperature
conditions, etc., one would doubtless obtain a pdf shifted
downwards, as shown in Fig. 2(a). Now, according to the
log-normal pdf shown, the proportion of unsafe 1 m deep
beams would be about 40%, while for small beams, it is
only 1%. 40% is certainly intolerable. A design code known
to have such a dangerous property is unacceptable.
A design code ignoring the size effect for beams of d < 1
m will cause the failure probability Pf of 1 m deep beams to
be about 103-times larger than that of small beams 0.2 m
deep. To demonstrate it, one needs to consider also the
pdf of the extreme loads expected to be applied on the
structure, which is denoted as f(y). Based on the load fac-
tor of 1.6 and the understrength factor of ϕ = 0.75, the mean
of the pdf of the extreme loads will be positioned as shown
in Fig. 2(b). Assuming the individual loads to have the log-
normal distribution, their pdf is as shown in Fig. 2(b). Based
on the coefficient of variation of extreme loads, here as-
sumed as ωL = 10%, the failure probability may now be
calculated from the well-known reliability integral (26-28)
(2)
 Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
where R(y) is the cumulative probability density distribu-
tion (cdf) of structural resistance. Upon evaluating this
integral, one finds the following failure probabilities:
for beams 0.2 m deep: for beams 1.0 m
deep:
The failure probability of 1 in a million corresponds to what
the risk analysis experts generally consider as acceptable
(22-24). But 1 in a thousand is unacceptable. So, if the size
effect in beam shear were ignored for beams without stir-
rups up to 1 m deep, the probability of failure for 1 m depth
would be about 103-times greater than for 0.2 m depth.
This would be unacceptable. If there should be any differ-
ence, it should be in the opposite sense because, for large
beams, the consequences of collapse are generally more
serious than for small ones.
Statistical Analysis Overcoming Bias in the
Database
Sound arguments for a realistic design formula capturing
the size effect on shear strength of beams must be based
on fracture mechanics, verified by properly designed
experiments, and statistically calibrated by a broad
database. For many engineers, though, a purely statistical
evidence, with no use of mathematics and mechanics, is
most convincing. Such evidence can be, and has been,
readily provided for many design problems where
experiments are easy to perform through the entire range
of all parameters. But the problem of size effect is different.
In the case of size effect, it is financially prohibitive to con-
duct experiments through the entire range of beam depths
of practical interest, which spans from 0.05 m to perhaps
14 m (the latter being the depth of the record-setting box
girder in Palau, whose compression-shear collapse must
be partly attributed to size effect). Obtaining statistics
and covering by experiments the full range of influencing
parameters other than the size (or beam depth) has been
easy for small beams, but is almost impossible for very
large ones. Thus it is not surprising that the existing ACI
database has major gaps and a strong subjective statis-
tical bias caused by crowding of the test data in the small-
size range, scant data in the large size range, and no data
at all for the largest sizes of practical interest (depths >2
m). Consequently, simple bivariate statistical regression
of all the points of the ACI-445F database yields a mis-
leading trend (29). Eliminating the bias is important for a
realistic update of the code provisions currently under
consideration for the design codes of many countries.
The size effect is defined as the size dependence of the
nominal strength of structure when geometrical similarity is
maintained and all the parameters other than the size are
kept constant. In the case of beam shear, the size may
measured by the beam depth d, the nominal strength of
structure may be taken as the average concrete shear
strength in the cross section, vc, and the parameters that
must be kept constant comprise all the concrete proper-
ties (including the maximum aggregate size da), the lon-
gitudinal reinforcement ratio ρw, and the shear span ratio
a/d (a = distance of the load from the support).
If the entire database on size effect in beam shear were to
be obtained in one testing program in one laboratory, a
sound statistical design of size effect experiments would
dictate choosing the same number of tests in equally rel-
evant size intervals and maintaining within all the size inter-
vals the same means and distributions of parameters ρw,
a/d, da,, over their entire practical range. This condition is
far from satisfied by the existing database. But there is no
other choice. So the question is how to minimize the statis-
tical bias in regard to the size effect. From the size effect
viewpoint, this database has a bias of two kinds:
o Kind 1. Crowding of the data in the small size range -
86% of the 398 data points pertain to three-point-loaded
beams of depths less than 0.5 m, and 99% to depths
less than 1.1 m, while only 1% of data pertain to depths
from 1.2 to 2 m.
o Kind 2. Strongly dissimilar means and distributions,
among different size intervals, of the subsidiary influ-
encing parameters, particularly the steel ratio ρw, shear
span ratio a/d, and the maximum aggregate size da.
To reach any meaningful statistical conclusion on the size
effect, both kinds of bias must be filtered out.
Statistical Regression of Size Effect
We want to isolate the trend of size effect from a database
governed by multiple variables. The standard way to do
that is to carry out multivariate least-square nonlinear re-
gression in which all the parameters are optimized simulta-
neously. This is the approach which was pursued in previ-
ous work (29, 30). There is another way, though. It does not
lead to multivariate regression, yet makes the statistical
trend conspicuous without any mathematics. To this end,
an unbiased (i.e., objective) procedure of data filtering is
required.
Let us subdivide the range of beam depths d of the exist-
ing test data into 5 size intervals (vertical strips in Fig. 3(a-
c)). They range from 0.075 to 0.15 m, from 0.15 to 0.3 m,
0.3 to 0.6 m, from 0.6 to 1.2 m, and from 1.2 to 2.4 m. In the
ACI database, these intervals contain 26, 251, 80, 38, and
3 data points, respectively; see Fig. 3(a-c). Note that the
borders between the size intervals are chosen to form a
geometric (rather than arithmetic) progression because
what matters for size effect is the ratio of sizes, not their
difference (to wit, from d = 0.1 to 0.1 + 0.5 m, the size
effect is strong, from 10 to 10 + 0.5 m negligible). The cho-
sen intervals are constant in the scale of log d, and this is
also needed for another reason - in the plot of y =
versus d (Fig. 3), the database is heteroscedastic (i.e.,
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 31
Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
has a variance density decreasing with size), but transfor-
mation to the plot of log versus log d renders
the database almost homoscedastic (i.e., of uniform vari-
ance density), which is necessary for meaningful regres-
sion analysis (31). Fig. 3(a-c) shows the restricted (filtered)
data points by bigger circles, and those filtered out by the
tiny circles.
The problem with the distribution of subsidiary influenc-
ing parameters in the full database is graphically docu-
mented by Fig. 4(a,b), in which the diamonds show their
means in the individual size intervals, and the error bars
show the span from the minimum to the maximum re-
tained value (Fig. 4(c-f) shows the same plots achieved
by filtering the database). In Fig. 4(a), the mean of ρw is in
the second interval nearly 7-times larger than in the last
interval (and almost 2-times larger than in the fourth inter-
val). In Fig. 4(b), the mean of a/d is in the third interval 30%
larger than in the last interval (and 10% larger than in the
fourth interval). Obviously, such differences among size
intervals must completely distort size effect statistics.
To filter out the effect of influencing parameters other than
d, each interval of d must include only the data within a
certain restricted range of ρw-values such that the average
would be almost the same for each interval of d. Similarly,
the range of a/d and da in each interval must be restricted
so that the average and would also be about the same
for each interval of d. The filtering of data must be done in
an objective manner (i.e., with no human preference). To
this end, a computer optimization algorithm has been for-
mulated. It progressively deletes from each interval, one by
one, the data points in each size interval that lie at the top
and bottom margins of the ranges of ρw, a/d and da, until
uniformity of each subsidiary influencing parameter through-
out all the intervals is optimally approached. 40%
Because, as generally agreed, the effect of the required
concrete strength f'c is adequately captured by assuming
the shear strength of cross section, vc, to be proportional to
, we do not need to restrict the range of f'c and may obtain
the ordinate of data centroid in each interval by averag-
ing, within that interval, not the vc-values but the values
of that fall into the aforementioned restricted
ranges of ρw, d/a and da.
As seen in Fig. 3, there are only three test data in the size
interval spanning 1.2 to 2.4 m. The first has the longitudinal
steel ratio of ρw = 0.14%, the second 0.28% and the third
0.74%. The extremely low ρw of the first two makes it impos-
sible to find similar data in other intervals of d. For example,
the minimum ρw is 0.91% within the first interval of d, and
0.46% within the third interval. Therefore, one must con-
sider the size range from 0.075 to 1.2 m. Formulating a sta-
tistical optimization algorithm for database filtering (to be
presented in a forthcoming journal article), one finds 7, 68,
17, and 36 data points within the admissible ranges for each
interval of d (ideally, of course, the number of data in each
32 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
interval should be the same, and the fact that it is not
shows that complete elimination of statistical bias is im-
possible; nevertheless for obtaining reliable means, 7 data
certainly suffice).
After filtering, the mean values of ρw for the restricted ranges
are 1.51%, 1.5%, 1.5%, and 1.5%, the mean values of a/d
are 3.45, 3.33, 3.33 and 3.23, respectively, and the mean
values of da are 16.8, 17.0, 16.8 and 16.5 mm. This pro-
vides data samples with minimum bias in terms of ρw, a/d
and da. The data centroids for each interval are plotted as
the diamond points in the plot of versus log
d (Fig. 3(d)). We see that, despite enormous scatter in the
database (Fig. 3(d)), the trend of these centroids is quite
systematic.
Under the assumption that the statistical weight of each
size interval centroid in Fig. 3 is the same, the foregoing
procedure is used to obtain the optimum least-square fit of
these 4 centroids with the classical size effect law (type 2
energetic size effect law (32)), which was proposed for beam
shear in 1984 (7) and recalibrated in 2005 (30), and is
written here as where C,
d0 = free constants to be found by the fitting algorithm
(for reasons of proper weighting, it is best to conduct non-
linear regression with a nonlinear optimization subroutine,
although a linear regression in transformed variables is
possible and acceptable (9)). The resulting fit of the cen-
troids (the solid curve) is seen to be quite close; it gives,
for predicting the mean strength, a very small coefficient
of variation of errors, namely ω= 2.5% = standard devia-
tion of the optimum fit curve from the centroids, divided
by the data mean (for individual beams, ω is, of course,
much larger). This coefficient of variation characterizes
the uncertainty in the mean strength of many structures of
a given size rather than in the strength of an individual
structure, which is of main interest for design. The nega-
tive curvature of the trend of the centroids confirms the
theoretically predicted (8) gradual transition from quasi-
plastic behavior for small sizes to perfectly brittle behav-
ior for large sizes. The trend of the last two centroids roughly
matches the theoretical prediction of the slope -1/2 of the
final asymptote of the size effect curve, given by vc ~ d -1/
2 (7, 13, 29, 30, 32) (which is a property unanimously en-
dorsed as fundamental in 2004 by ACI Committee 446).
Using the same statistical algorithm, let us now increase
the average steel ratio for each interval to 2.5%. The fitting
of the centroids is shown in Fig. 3(e). The asymptotic slope
of -1/2 is confirmed and the negative curvature is obvious.
To increase the size range, one may further include one
point from the largest size interval spanning 1.2 to 2.4 m,
namely the Toronto beam with w = 0.74%; see Fig. 3(f).
Admittedly, one data point is too little, but nothing more
exists because of the cost of testing very large beams. Then
the same procedure as above is followed and, for the other
 Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
4 intervals of d, one finds 1, 2, 5, and 15 data points for
which the means of ρw in the interval of d are 0.91%, 0.94%,
0.94%, 0.91% and 0.74%, while the mean of a/d (= 2.9)
and the mean maximum aggregate size da (= 10 mm) are
the same for each interval. The coefficient of variation of
errors of mean prediction now is ω= 5%, and the size effect
trend is very clear. Again, the trend agrees well with the
asymptotic slope of -1/2 and with the energetic size effect
law (solid curve, Fig. 3(f)).
Now, an important point to note is that, for different aver-
ages , and , the trend of the interval centroids is the
same, and closely matches the size effect law. This dem-
onstrates objectivity of the data filtering approach.
Also note that the present statistical results lend no sup-
port to the previously proposed power laws based on
Weibull's statistical theory (33). Neither do they lend any
support to the asymptotic size effect which is implied by
an alternative model (34, 35) based on MCFT (Modified
Compression Field Theory) (besides, an exponent of mag-
nitude >1/2 is impossible thermodynamically as well as from
the viewpoint of material strength randomness (8, 9, 36)).
Variance of Individual Data Via Weighted Regression:
Kinds 1 and 2 of bias afflict not only the mean trend of the
full database, but also its scatter. The scatter may be mea-
sured by an unbiased coefficient of variation of the errors
of the optimum fit curve compared to the individual data
points. This is the error that must be considered for safe
design. It can be ascertained by one of two methods:
1) One method is a simple bivariate nonlinear regression
of our filtered restricted database, in which the kind 2 bias
is already suppressed. To suppress the kind 1 bias, one
needs to give the same weight to the data in each size
interval i, regardless of the number mi of the points that
fall into that interval. This may be achieved by assigning
to the data in each interval i the normalized weight .
Nonlinear regression, i.e., the minimization of the weighted
sum of square deviations from the size effect law, then
yields the coefficient of variation of 22.3% for the filtered
database with =1.5%, and 23.6% for that with = 2.5%
(Fig. 5).
2) The other method, which is the standard one, is a mul-
tivariate weighted nonlinear regression of the entire data-
base. Compared to the first method, there is the compli-
cation that, instead of filtering the database, one must
judiciously select the mathematical function describing
the dependence of the parameters C and d0 of the size
effect law for shear strength on the subsidiary influencing
parameters ρw, a/d and da, and then optimize simulta-
neously the coefficients of all these functions by minimiz-
ing the variance of errors. Proper choice of these functions
suppresses the kind 2 bias. The kind 1 bias is in ref. (30)
minimized by weighting the data points in inverse propor-
tion to the value of a smoothed histogram of the number of
tests versus size. The result is quite similar to the first
method - the coefficient of variation is 19.0%, after trans-
formation to the variable . However, the range from the
minimum to the maximum value of each subsidiary pa-
rameter (Fig. 4) fluctuates, from one size interval to the
next, more than in the first method (ideally, the range
should be the same for all the intervals, and the fact that it
is not introduces some extra measure of bias, which can-
not be removed although it probably is small).
The effect of data weighting can further be clarified by
Fig. 5(a,b) where the solid curves are the bivariate nonlin-
ear regression curves of the interval centroids, with the
same weight on each centroid. As one can see, almost
undistinguishable curves (dashed ones) are obtained by
the weighted nonlinear bivariate statistical regression of
all the data points in the restricted (filtered) database. An
unweighted regression of the same data points is shown
in Fig. 5 by the dash-dot curves, and, as we can see, the
dash-dot curve is again hardly distinguishable from the
regression curve of the centroids in Fig. 5(a), but is very
different in Fig. 5(b). One reason for this difference is that
the vertical ranges of the restricted data in the individual
size intervals, marked by vertical bars, are in Fig. 5(a) nearly
symmetric with respect to the centroid curve, but not in
Fig. 5(b). Another reason is that the restricted database in
Fig. 5(a) is roughly homoscedastic, while that in Fig. 5(b)
is not.
For comparison, the coefficient of variation of the multi-
variate nonlinear regression conducted on the entire da-
tabase (2) is 15% if the data are weighted, and 17% if
unweighted. When only the 11 beams deeper than 1 m
are considered, the coefficient of variation is 14% if these
data are weighted and 16% if unweighted. As we see, the
weighted regression gives a better prediction for the scat-
ter of shear strength of large beams.
Size Effect For Concrete Beams With Stirrups
Although much information exists on the size effect on
reinforced concrete beams without shear reinforcement,
there is little information on the size effect in shear failure
of beams with minimum or heavier shear reinforcement
(stirrups). Many engineers are of the opinion that beams
with minimum or heavier stirrups exhibit no size effect.
However, this opinion is incorrect and would lead to un-
safe designs for large structures. Computational simula-
tions, and even the limited experimental evidence that
exists, reveal that stirrups do not eliminate the size effect.
They only mitigate it. According to the analysis by Ba•ant
(37), the energetic size effect law (32) remains valid and
the effect of stirrups is to increase the transitional size d0
(9). Avoidance of size effect would require elimination of
post-peak softening on the load-deflection diagram, and
this could be achieved only if the concrete were subjected
to triaxial confinement with all negative principal stresses
exceeding in magnitude several times the uniaxial com-
pression strength.
The test series conducted by Walraven et al. (19) clearly
show that there is a strong size effect for deep beams with
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 33
Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
a/d < 2 (Fig. 6(a)) to which the strut-and-tie model is ap-
plicable. As is well known, if the failure is triggered by the
compression crushing of concrete strut, it typically exhib-
its size effect (8). For slender beams with a/d > 2, two test
series are found in the literature:
1. tests conducted by Bhal (11) in 1968 in Stuttgart, in
which the shear span ratio is a/d = 3, the shear rein-
forcement is heavier than the minimum requirement,
and the size range is almost 1 : 4.
2. tests conducted by Kong and Rangan (20) in 1998 in
Perth, in which the shear span ratio is a/d = 2.4, the
shear reinforcement is heavier than the minimum re-
quirement, and the size range is 1 : 3.
When plotted in the logarithmic scale (Fig. 6(b,c)), it can
be seen clearly that, in both data sets, the shear strength
markedly decreases with increasing beam depth. The as-
ymptotic size effect trend of slope -1/2 does not contra-
dict these test results.
Extensive finite element simulations based on the crack
band model have also been carried out to investigate
whether the shear failure of beams with stirrups exhibits a
size effect. The beam geometry considered in these simu-
lations is same as in the Toronto tests (3, 4, 18). Computa-
tions are run for geometrically similar beams of depths
0.47 m, 1.89 m, which is the size of Toronto test, and 7.56
m. The stirrups and longitudinal bars are assumed not to
slip (although the bond slip was found to play only a minor
role and tend to intensify the size effect).
The mesh and the computed cracking pattern at maxi-
mum load are shown in Fig. 7(a), and the simulated load-
deflection diagrams are shown in Fig. 7(b), for all the sizes.
The diagram for d = 1.89 m (the size tested in Toronto)
shows the peak load of 283 kips. This is very close to the
value measured in Toronto. The yield plateau observed in
this test is also well reproduced by the simulation. How-
ever, for the largest beam simulated, the yield plateau
disappears and the load descends steeply right after the
peak. Fig. 7(c) shows the dependence of the average
beam shear strength vn = V/bw d on beam depth d, and
Fig. 7(d) shows the same for the average shear strength
vc = Vc/bw d contributed by concrete (Vc = V - Vs, Vs =
As fy d/s; As, s = stirrup area and spacing). Compared
with the concrete beams without stirrups tested at same
laboratory, the transitional size d0 shown in Fig. 7(c,d) is
significantly increased. These plots document that a strong
size effect exists also in the beams with stirrups, although
it is pushed into larger sizes. The asymptotic slope of -1/2
is seen to remain.
Together with the experimental evidence, the finite ele-
ment simulations clearly demonstrate that the shear rein-
forcement, whether minimum or heavier than minimum, is
unable to suppress the size effect. It mitigates the size
effect in the larger size range, but not enough by far to
34 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
make it negligible.
Some Catastrophic Collapses With A Role Of Size
Effect
The overall safety factor µ , although not used in the current
codes, is defined as the mean of failure test data divided
by the mean (or unfactored) design load. The part of µ of
concern here is the understrength factor. Besides the overt
understrength factor j characterizing the brittleness of
failure mode, there also exists a covert understrength
factors jf due to the design formula error and jm due to the
material randomness (38). Consequently, for shear failure
of longitudinally reinforced concrete beams without
stirrups, the overall safety factor currently is µ ~ 3.8 for
small sizes and µ~1.7 for large sizes. The former is totally
dominated by the live load, and the latter is totally
dominated by the self weight. In the latter case, the
neglected size effect factor has been considered (38) as
2. In view of the scatter in Fig. 3, the individual overall
safety factors vary within 2.3 to 6 for small sizes, and 1.05
to 2.8 for large sizes. The very large values of these
safety factors are doubtless one reason why, despite the
neglect of size effect, there have not been many more
structural collapses than actually experienced. These large
values also reveal that, in concrete engineering (by
contrast to aeronautical engineering), a single error in
design or construction is usually not enough to bring the
structure down.
The size effect factor for normal concrete structures can
hardly be more than 2, and so the size effect alone would
rarely suffice to cause the collapse if the material strength
and formula error have nearly mean values. To produce
collapse, the material strength and formula error must si-
multaneously have values of small probability, far from the
mean. Thus, at least two, and typically three, simultaneous
mistakes or lapses of quality control are needed to make
a concrete structure collapse. This makes it easy for an
investigating committee to blame collapse entirely on the
other factors and ignore the theoretically more difficult
size effect. For example, in the case of catastrophic sink-
ing of Sleipner oil platform in a Norwegian fjord in 1991
(Fig. 8(a)), which was due to shear failure of a thick tricell
wall, there were three simultaneous mistakes. Besides two
mistakes recognized by government forensic committee,
the necessity of strength reduction of about 34% due to
the size effect was pointed out but omitted from the con-
clusions. Of major interest for the size effect theory is the
1996 collapse of the Koror-Babeldaob Bridge in the Re-
public of Palau (Fig. 8(b)). This prestressed box girder
had the world record span of 241 m when it was built in
1976. In addition to the erroneous initial prediction of creep
and shrinkage deflections and apparently inappropriate
remedial prestressing, one would have to expect a major
strength reduction due to size effect on the compression-
shear failure seen in the photograph. Analysis of this col-
lapse would offer a unique opportunity to check and cali-
 Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
brate the size effect theory but, incredibly, all the techni-
cal information was sealed after litigation by a court ver-
dict. Scientific ethics demands this verdict to be reversed,
in the interest of progress (imagine, e.g., that all the tech-
nical information on the collapse of Tacoma Narrows Bridge
were suppressed).
Another reason why structural collapses have not been
more numerous is that most codes, unwittingly, hide a
partial (thought imperfect) protection against size effect
in an excessive value of the load factor for self-weight,
which is 1.4 for the self-weight acting alone, according to
the current ACI code. In small structures, the self-weight is
a negligible part of the load, and so the value of self-weight
load factor does not matter. But in a very large bridge,
self-weight alone is the decisive loading case. Now, how
could the self-weight be 40% larger than assumed in de-
sign? This is inconceivable (except as a sabotage). At
most it could differ by a few percent. So very large struc-
tures are penalized by almost 40% compared to small
ones. This way most codes give a covert protection
against the neglect of size effect (39). But such covert
protection is insufficient, by far, for very large structures. It
also exhibits an incorrect trend from the viewpoint of size
effect (39), as well as other wrong features. E.g., it gives
greater protection to unprestressed or normal concretes
compared to prestressed or high-strength concretes,
because they lead to heavier structures, although the
opposite should be the case because they are much more
brittle; it gives too little protection to columns compared
to beams, etc. This covert size effect should be eliminated
and replaced by introducing the proper size effect in the
code formulae.
The Question Of Legal Liability Of Concrete Societies
In the face of ever increasing diversification of science, it
is nowadays impossible for the code-making committees,
typically composed of the best and most renowned engi-
neers, to follow in detail all the recently solidified scientific
advances relevant to the building code article or recom-
mended practice that they are developing. Nevertheless,
keep informed they must. A quarter century ago, when the
experimental data were scant and scattered, and only a
handful of scientists espoused a coherent scientific theory,
it was entirely plausible and defensible for concrete soci-
eties to ignore the size effect. When a failure attributable
to size effect occurred, they could not be held liable. Not
any more. The experimental evidence has become unde-
niable and the theoretical basis solid. Virtually all the re-
searchers in fracture mechanics of concrete and entire
research-oriented societies and committees in this field
(e.g., IA-FraMCoS, ASCE-EMD, ACI Committee 446) have
no doubt that a significant non-statistical size effect exists
in all the brittle failures of concrete structures. Conse-
quently, ignoring the size effect for the sake of simplicity,
or even sanctioning a simplistic or partial consideration of
size effect that is now known to imply a significantly in-
creased risk of failure of large structures, is no longer ac-
ceptable. It might expose concrete engineering societies
to legal liability when another catastrophe occurs.
Conclusion
At the dawn of this century, the size effect in brittle failures
of concrete structure has become an established fact. It is
time to introduce it into the design codes and practice. Ig-
noring it will cause large structures to be failing with the
frequency of about one per thousand or more, instead of
less than one per million as generally considered tolerable
for engineering structures. The human society must not be
knowingly exposed to such a risk.
Acknoweldgment: Financial support from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Transportation through the Infrastructure Technol-
ogy Institute of Northwestern University under Grant No.
0740-357-A210 is gratefully acknowledged.
Author Affiliation
Bazant, Zdenek P.: Ph.D., Dr.h.c. mult., S.E. McCormick
School Professor and W.P. Murphy Professor of Civil
Engineering and Materials Science, Northwestern
University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Tech A135, Evanston,
Illinois 60208; z-bazant@northwestern.edu Yu, Qiang:
Ph.D, Research assistant, Northwestern University;
qiangyu@northwestern.edu
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16. Shioya, T. and Akiyama, H. (1994). "Application to design of size
effect in reinforced concrete structures" Size Effect in Concrete
Structures (Proc., Japan Concrete Institute International Work-
shop, Sendai), H. Mihashi, H. Okamura and Z.P. Ba•ant, eds.,
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17. Kani, G.N.J. (1967). "How safe are our large reinforced concrete
beams?" ACI Journal, 58(5), pp. 591-610.
18. Lubell, A., Sherwood, T., Bentz, E., and Collins, M.P. (2004). "Safe
Shear Design of Large, Wide Beams" ACI Concrete International
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19. Walraven, J.C. and Lehwalter, N. (1994). "Size effect in short
loaded beams in shear" ACI Structural Journal, V. 91, No. 5, pp.
585-593.
20. Kong, P.L. and Rangan, B.V. (1998). "Shear strength of high
performance concrete beams" ACI Structural Journal, 95(6), pp.
677-688.
21. ACI Committee 318 (2005). Building Code Requirements for
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05), Am. Concrete Institute, Farmington Hills, Michigan.
22. Duckett, W. (2005). "Risk analysis and the acceptable probability
of failure" The Structural Engineer, August, pp. 25-26.
23. Melchers, R.E. (1987). Structural Reliability, Analysis & Prediction.
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25. Bazant, Z.P., and Pang, S.-D. (2007). "Activation energy based
extreme value statistics and size effect in brittle and quasibrittle
fracture". J. of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 55, 91-134.
36 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
26. Ang, A.H.-S., and Tang, W.H. (1984). Probability concepts in
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27. Madsen, H.O., Krenk, S., and Lind, N.C. (1986). Methods of
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29. Bazant, Z.P., and Yu, Q. (2005). "Designing against size effect on
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1877-1885.
30. Bazant, Z.P., and Yu, Q. (2005). "Designing against size effect on
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"General shear design method" ACI Struct. J., 93(1), pp. 36-45.
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39. Bazant, Z.P., and Frangopol, D.M. (2002). "Size effect hidden in
excessive dead load factor." J. of Structural Engrg. ASCE 128
(1), 80-86.
Fig. 1 Size Effect Tests of (a) Shear Failure; (b) Torsional
Failure; and (c) Punching Shear Failure
 Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice
Fig. 2 (a) Probability Distribution of Shear Strength of Beams
from 10 to 30 cm Deep, Based on the ACI-445F database,
Compared to Toronto Data; (b) Failure Probability for Small
Beam and 1 m Deep Beam.
Fig. 3 ACI-445F Database and Statistical Regression of
Centroids of Test Data Subdivided into Intervals of Equal Size
Ratio. (a-c) Full Database (the data retained are shown by
larger circles and those filtered out in various cases by tiny
circles); (d-f) Filtered Restricted Data Giving the Indicated
Combinations of Uniform Mean Values of Subsidiary
Parameters, Their Centroids and Regression Curves.
Fig. 4 Interval Centroids and Spread between the Maximum
and Minimum Value
Fig. 4 Interval Centroids and Spread between the Maximum
and Minimum Values of Reinforcement Ratio rw and Shear
Span Ratio a/d ; (a,b) for Full ACI-445F Database; (c,d)
for Restricted Database with Mean rw ˜ 1.5%, a/d ˜ 3.3;
(e,f) Ditto but rw ˜ 2.5%, a/d ˜ 3.3; (g,h) Ditto but rw ˜ 0.9%,
a/d ˜ 3.0.
Fig. 5 Regression Curves Corresponding to Weighted Fitting
(Dashed Curves), Unweighted Fitting (Dash-dot Curves) and
Fitting on Centroids (Solid Curves) for Filtered Database of
(a) Average Steel Ratio = 1.5%; and (b) Average Steel
Ratio = 2.5%.
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 37
Consequences of Ignoring or Mis-Judging the Size Effect in Concrete Design Codes and Practice

a) Sleipnerplatform, 1991 b) Palau bridge, 1996

Fig. 8 Examples of Catastrophic Failures of Concrete Struc-
tures. (a) Sleipner Oil Platform, 1991; (b) Koror-Babeldaob
Box Girder in Republic of Palau, 1996.

Fig. 6 Size Effect Test of Concrete Beams with Stirrups. (a)

Deep Beam with a/d = 1; (b) Slender Beam with a/d = 3; (c)
Slender Beam with a/d = 2.4.

Fig. 7 Computational Simulations of Toronto Beam with

Minimum Stirrups. (a) Mesh and Cracking pattern at failure;
(b) Load-deflection Curves Generated by Simulations; (c)
Size Effect Fitting of the Total Shear Strength; (d) Size Effect
Fitting of the Concrete Shear Strength

38 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

Damage Identification of Structures
Through Simple and Measurable
Indicators
Abstract
Simple, fast and robust strategies are required for estimat-
ing the health of a structure using globally available re-
sponse data. The paper proposes a first stage structural
health monitoring methodology using natural frequencies
and static deflections as damage indicators. Equations and
methodologies are proposed and validated in the paper,
numerically and experimentally towards damage estima-
tion. Identification methodology developed in this paper is
applicable to distributed smeared damage, which is typi-
cal of reinforced concrete structures. The idea is that the
first stage monitoring can be done for a large number of
vulnerable structures in a remote manner and the features
extracted from the data should help in determining whether
any second stage detailed investigation is warranted. Key
words: Structural health monitoring, Damage Indicators,
Bridges and Buildings.
Introduction
A civil engineering structure is a plant (structure or system
with a governing set of linear or differential equations) which
takes some input (force) and produces some output (re-
sponse). The input could be purely random or determinis-
tic. The relationship between the input to output (I/O) de-
fines the physical phenomenon that governs its structural
behavior. This I/O relationship is termed as flexibility (or stiff-
ness) in a static structure, compliances (with frequency
dependence) in a dynamic structure or an impedance in
an electrical circuit. In many of the situations when a built
structure or existing mechanical component is to be as-
sessed, the I/O relationship has to be generated whole or
part. The problem of identifying this I/O relationship is
termed as "system identification". This is typically an "in-
verse problem". A good example is a pile foundation, which
is suspect for its load carrying capacity (which cannot be
inspected visually) and its state of well being could only be
inferred through its response to a set of dynamic or static
forces.
Contrary to a forward problem, the peculiar challenges that
are associated in a system identification and the associ-
ated inverse problem are:
Raghu Prasad B.K, Lakshmanan N,
Gopalakrishnan N and Muthumani K
(a) Unwanted signals come in the form of noise both in the
input force as well as in the response and this may be
purely Gaussian or ground-loop electrical noise or due
to other sources (temperature, humidity etc.)
(b) There may be less number of measurements and more
number of un-known variables (under-determined).
(c) Non-uniqueness of the response, where many possible
inputs could give rise to the same response.
(d) There may be more number of measurements and less
number of un-known variables (over-determined).
(e) Less sensitivity of the structure or part of the structure in
response to impressed forces.
(f) System-non-linearity, friction and other causes, which
are difficult to quantify in precise mathematical terms.
(g) Uncertainty in modeling boundary conditions, joints, and
opening-closing cracks (which shows different stiffness
at each half-cycle) and so on.
Previous Investigations on Damage Assessment
Damage-induced variation of static deflection in a beam is
used to identify the concentrated damage through an in-
verse analysis and closed form expression by Caddemi and
Morassi [1] and Caddemi and Greco [2]. Interestingly, the
procedure developed by them, requires measurement of
displacements at both the sides of a concentrated crack to
evaluate the crack position. A Monte-Carlo simulation pro-
cedure is also used to evaluate the effect of Gaussian dis-
tributed measurement errors on the damage evaluation
procedure. The paper by Buda and Caddemi [3], also on
similar lines, outlines a strategy for damage identification
for concentrated damage in an Euler-Bernoulli beam. The
static damage identification problem is reduced to a
Fredholm integral equation of the second kind character-
ized by a Pincherle-Goursat kernel by Paola and Billelo [4]
in another note-worthy work. A simple and elegant formula-
tion by Choi [5] and Choi et. al [6], presents an elastic dam-
age load theorem, which indirectly states that change in
deflection due to damage is maximum near the vicinity of
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 39
Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators
damage and absolute maximum when the position of load,
damage and measurement locations coincide.
The available literature on system identification and dam-
age detection using only dynamic measured data is huge.
A comprehensive survey is presented by Doebling et al.
[7], who have reviewed the numerous technical literatures
available on damage detection through vibration testing.
Hassiotis et. al. [8], Hassiotis [9] outline a method based
on first order perturbation and optimization theory to com-
pute the damage from measured natural frequencies. Iden-
tification of damage locations in plate-like structures using
strain modal approach is proposed by Li et. al [10], using
bending moment index and residual strain mode shape in-
dex. A combined static and dynamic approach for damage
identification using curvature mode shape and strain fre-
quency response function is proposed by Yam, et. al [11].
The combined static and dynamic data or static-only data
for damage detection are less. Various structural proper-
ties of anisotropic composites are identified using prob-
ability of detection (POD) concepts and boundary element
numerical simulation, using static data by Rus et. al [12].
Use of wavelets in damage identification using experimen-
tally derived deflection through digital photography by Rucka
and Wilde [13] is an interesting study. Nejad et. al [14]
have used an optimization method that minimizes the dif-
ference between the load vector of the damaged and un-
damaged structure using static noisy data for damage iden-
tification. A static-dynamic combined damage detection
technique, without prior information of intact structure is
used by Vanlanduit et. al [15]. Sensitivity studies on static
deflection curvature, curvature mode shape and strain fre-
quency response function on damages have been used by
Yam. et. al [16] in yet another interesting study. Another
combined static-dynamic system identification study using
measured damage signature and predicted damage sig-
nature is through the work of Wang et. al [17]. Recently
wavelet and radial basis function (ANN) based damage
identification from dynamically measured parameters is
proposed by Lakshmanan et al. [18,19] and Raghuprasad
et al. [20, 23]. In a previous work Lakshmanan et. al [21,22]
have proposed a smeared damage model and the sensi-
tivity matrix of static deflection due to damage (reduction of
flexural EI) formulated and solved as an over-determined
sets of equation.
Definition of Damage
A structure is deemed to have been damaged if the struc-
ture, after un-loading could not return to its original state
and there is a permanent deformation with loss of energy.
Damage is defined, as per International Standards Organi-
zation, "as an unfavorable change in the condition of a struc-
ture that can affect the structural performance". A structural
member can suffer varying degrees of damage due to rea-
sons such as over loading, environmental ageing, corro-
sion, poor quality of construction, fatigue crack growth un-
40 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
der cyclic loading, and creep. On many occasions, a main-
tenance engineer is required to take decisions regarding
the repair and improvement of the damaged structure. The
viability of repair has to be weighed with the cost of new
replacement and this is governed by the state of damage
suffered by the structure. Estimation of the magnitude of
damage, location and its spread thus plays a crucial role in
the repair methodology to be adopted. Also, residual
strength and remaining life depend on the magnitude and
position of damage. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is
a field of science dealing with the mathematics, algorithms,
instrumentation, data-analysis and feature extraction meth-
ods for damage identification of structures. SHM provides
an engineer with mathematical, structural and electronic
tools such that damage could be measured and quanti-
fied. This is analogous to a doctor provided with various
diagnostic tools for identifying the health of a human being.
The methodology adopted for identification should be
simple, both in terms of investigations involved and the in-
strumentation. Researchers have proposed various meth-
odologies including damage identification from mode
shapes, wavelet-based formulations and optimization-
based damage identification and instrumentation schemes
and so on. These are technically involved but require more
measurements for all critical bridges/buildings, where the
sheer volume of number of structures to be investigated is
enormous. Ideally, structural health monitoring has to be
carried out in two stages:
(a) Stage-1: Remote monitoring of global damage indica-
tors and inference of the health of the structure. Instru-
mentation for this stage should be less, simple, but at
critical locations to capture the global damage in a rea-
sonable sense.
(b) Stage -2: If global indicators show deviation beyond a
specified threshold, then a detailed and localized instru-
mentation and monitoring, with controlled application
of static and dynamic loads is to be carried out to infer
the health of the structure and take a decision on the
repair and retrofit strategies.
Damage Identification from Natural Frequency
Change
In this section, another method based on contours of equal
frequency change, named, "Iso_Eigen_value_change con-
tours" is proposed. It is shown that the intersection of two
or more contours with ratios of frequency changes between
multiple pairs of frequencies shall give the position and
extent of damage. It may be proved that the ratio of the
changes in natural frequencies for any pair of modes (say
N and M-th modes) remains constant irrespective of the
magnitude of damage, '?'. However, the criterion is valid for
a single contiguous damage and many researchers have
applied this methodology to concentrated damage idealised
by a rotational spring. The extension of this method for a
distributed damage covered here is novel and unique.
 Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators
Necessary equations for drawing Iso_Eigen_value_change
contours are developed using first-order perturbation theory.
Analytical validation of these curves is carried out for simu-
lated damage values. Fig.1 shows the parameters that de-
fine a damage.
Damage Identification From
Iso_Eigen_Value_Change Contours
Fig. 1 Simply supported beam with a reduced EI for portion
of its length
Generally, damage due to over-loading of a structure, af-
fects certain definite length of the structure, which is con-
tiguous. The distribution of damage, over this affected length
could be in some known variation, say, less at ends of dam-
age zone and more at the centre of the damage. Hence
identification of the parameters that define a single con-
tiguous damage is more relevant as generally damage does
not happen in some abrupt variation along a structural ele-
ment. The knowledge of at least three frequency changes
are essential for retrieving the unknown parameters, which
define a damage. Hence the strategy is to eliminate ? by
taking the ratio of the change in frequencies for two natural
modes. Ratio of the changes in Eigen values are obtained
after modifying and re-writing relevant equations as,
(1)
hence it is inferred that the ratio of changes in Eigen val-
ues, for two modes 'n' and 'm' (squared frequencies) are
independent of the magnitude of damage and are func-
tions of only the central position of damage and its extent.
Indirectly, the method is to find out the ratio of variation in
frequencies as the normalizing factor which
is a constant for any pair of frequencies. Having eliminated
a variable (β ), out of three, it is possible to construct curves
such that the variation of Eigen-change-ratios can be visu-
alized. Varying values of which give rise to con-
stant Eigen-change-ratios
for a simply supported beam are plotted in the form
of contours. Following physical in-sights can be obtained
from the general contours :
Ø Contours are symmetrical indicating that a symmetrical
damage affects the frequencies equally.
Ø The boundary line shows that the extent of damage ,
on the Y-axis shall at best be twicehe centre of damage
location , on the X-axis.
Ø Contours at the top most point indicate a wide-spread
constant damage and all frequencies are affected
equally and hence the ratio is 1.0.
Ø Contours closer to support are around 3 to 4, indicating
that high frequencies are affected more by off-centric
damage.
Ø As a converse of point (d), contours closer to mid-span,
show smaller values especially for small amounts of
damage.
This exercise on the theoretical damage identification study
involves certain example validation problems which are
solved using these contours.
The example validation problems (D1 to D2) solved are as
follows : ( is the magnitude of damage, kept as 0.10)
(a)D1: (b) D2:
D w 2
n w 2
m
For example, in case(a) for the pairs of 2-1, 4-2,
D w 2
m w 2
n
3-1 and 4-1 frequency ratios are 1.897, 0.129, 0.968 and
0.245 respectively. The intersection point of all the contours
indicate the position and extent of damage, which in this
case works out to be 0.25 and 0.1 respectively (Fig. 2 (a) ).
Figures 2 (b) shows the results of the remaining case. After
the geometric details of the damage are got, it is easy to
extract the magnitude of damage. The least square esti-
mation can be adopted, for this over-determined set of equa-
tions, (with four equations and one un-known), which in this
case works out to be 0.10.
It is to be observed that, for symmetrical damages, the in-
tersection point is also a point of zero slope and hence the
contours are tangential to each other. An extra frequency
information may be required to resolve this issue or addi-
tionally, it is also proposed to have a static based system
identification procedure, which shall resolve a symmetric
and an un-symmetric damage, in conjunction with dynamic
measurements.
Damage Estimation Through Deflection Measurements At
The Load Application Point
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 41
Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators

A simplified formulation based on flexibility approach is and ud are subscripts for damaged and un-damaged states.
written, using only deflection measurements and through
monitoring of the change in deflection (ratio of change in Here 'α' ( 0 < α< 1)is the remaining ratio of EI after a dam-
displacement to the original displacement). Certain condi-
age of 'β EI' has occurred
tions are also imposed such that the value of measured
deflection is more and hence the errors are less. These in-
(1-α = β). The factor is termed as the modified dam-
clude
age factor ( β* ) It is to be noted that the strain energy and
Ø Deflection is measured only at the loading point is used subsequently deflections are proportional to the modified
in the inverse analysis.
damage factor and not to the damage factor themselves.
Ø Ratio of the change in deflection is used instead of the
absolute value of deflection.

Total strain energy (U) due to flexure can be summed up for

various regions of the un-damaged Euler-Bernoulli beam
(Fig. 3) as in the following expression
M 2 dx M 2 dx M 2 dx M 2 dx M 2 dx (2)
U ud = ò 2 EI
= ò A
2 EI
+ ò B
2 EI
+ ò
C
2 EI
+ ò
D
2 EI

Fig. 3 Simply Supported Beam taken for Static System

Identification Studies
Reckoning 'x' from the right-hand side support and the
change of deflection is sought below the applied load it-
self, (5)

(6)

where is the incremental increase in deflection at the

Fig. 2 (a,b) Prediction of Damage Position and Extent from 'i-th' node due to a damage magnitude βj at the 'j-th' element.
Iso_Eigen_change Contours
(a) D1, (b) D2
(7)
For the damaged beam, only the region of damage is re-

placed with an α EI. If there are 'N' damage sites in the beam, the effect of all the
damages can be simply summed up and the above equa-
(3)
tion can be written as,
This can be modified and written as,

(8)
M 2 dx M 2 dx
U d = U ud - ò + ò 2a EI
2 EI For a particular case of a uniform and widespread reduc-
C C
tion in EI, the equation can be modified and the effects on
1- a M 2 dx both the left and right sides of the load are added and the
= U ud +
a ò 2 EI
C
resulting expression is,

b M 2 dx
= U ud +
1- b ò 2 EI
C
(9)

bM 2 dx
1 - b Cò 2 EI
The above equation reinforces the well-known fact that for
U d - U ud = (4)
a uniform decrease in EI, throughout the beam, by a factor
of α, deflection increases by a facor of 1/ α and change in
deflection is ((1/ α)-1)
Where, M = moment at any section, EI = flexural rigidity ; d The ratio of increased deflection to the original deflection,

42 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

 Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators
for the same loading can similarly be written as,
(10)
In a system identification procedure, for deriving the sys-
tem parameters from the known values of ratio of changes
in deflections from the original deflection values, above
equation can be re-cast into a matrix form with un-known
vector composed of and known vector of
both related by a coefficient matrix depending on the ge-
ometry of load position and damage. The matrix 'A', termed
as the sensitivity matrix, is constructed relating the sensitiv-
ity of damage at element 'j' to an increased deflection at
node 'i'. The vector 'b' is the un-known , modified
damage factor (β*) at various elements and vector 'c' is the
known change in deflection, expressed as the ratio of origi-
nal deflection, occurring at node 'i' due to the effect of dam-
ages in all elements and which can be measured. Fig.4
shows the results of the numerical study with simulated and
retrieved damages.
Conclusions
Ø Iso_Eigen_value_Change contours constructed from
Cawley-Adams criteria are the effective means of iden-
tification of damage in terms of damage position and
extent. It is possible to estimate the damage magnitude,
as an over-determined problem, once the position and
extents are known. These contours are more tolerant to
errors in measurements and up to 5% deviation, a re-
gion of intersection is identified rather than a point and
the centre of the region is the likely damage location.
Ø The method of damage identification from static mea-
surements improve, if drive-point deflections are used
(load and deflections at the same point), rotations de-
rived from deflections are not used in the formulations
and more redundancy is incorporated in measurements.
Acknowledgement
The paper is published with the approval of Director,
CSIR-SERC and his constant support and encouragement
are gratefully acknowledged
Author Affiliation
Raghu Prasad. B.K, Professor, Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore, Lakshmanan. N, Scientist, CSIR-SERC,
Chennai, Gopalakrishnan. N, Corresponding Author,
Muthumani. K, Scientist, CSIR-SERC, Chennai
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Gopalakrishnan, N., and Basu D. (2007). "Wavelet analysis and
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 43
Damage Identification of Structures Through Simple and Measurable Indicators

enhanced damage indicators", Smart Structures and System-
An Intnl Jl., 3, 23-49.
19. Lakshmanan, N, Raghuprasad, B.K., Muthumani, K.,
Gopalakrishnan, N., and Basu D. (2008). "Damage evaluation
through radial basis function network (RBFN) based artificial
neural network scheme", Smart Structures and System- An Intnl
Jl., 4, 23-49.
20. Raghuprasad, B.K., Lakshmanan, N, Gopalakrishnan and N.,
Muthumani, K. (2008), "Sensitivity of Eigen values to damage
and its identification", Structural durability and health monitor-
ing, 4(3), 117-144.
21. Lakshmanan, N, Raghuprasad, B.K., Muthumani, K.,
Gopalakrishnan, N., and Basu D. (2009). "Identification of rein-
forced concrete beam-like structures subjected to distributed
damage from experimental static measurements", Computers
and Concrete- An Intnl Jl., 4 (1) .
22. Lakshmanan, N, Raghuprasad, B.K., Gopalakrishnan, N.,
Sathishkumar, K., and Murthy S.G.N., Detection of contiguous
and distributed damage through contours of equal frequency
change, Journal of sound and vibration (2010).
23. Raghuprasad, B.K., Lakshmanan, N, Muthumani, K. and
Gopalakrishnan N., "Enhancement of damage indicators in
wavelet and curvature analysis", Sadhana, 31(4), (2006), 463-
486.

Fig. 4 Various Damage patterns for damage identification for a simply supported beam

44 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

 Message

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Bangalore - 560 012, India

P. BALARAM
Director
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore - 560 012. India

The Launch of the Journal of Structural Engineering World Congress

(SEWC) in 2011 at the time of the 4th SEWC is a major step in
recognizing the need for an international journal in this important area.
The journal will have its head office in Bangalore, a source of great
satisfaction in view of the many important contributions made in this
area by structural engineers working in India. I wish the journal and its
Editor-in-Chief Prof. B K Raghu Prasad the greatest success in this
venture.

1st March 2011

P. BALARAM

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 45

Message

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

Bangalore - 560 012, India

Prof. N. Balakrishnan
Associate Director
Professor, Supercomputer Education and Research Centre SERC/NBK/G1
National J C Bose Fellow 7 March 2011

The economic growth witnessed across all the developing countries has been instrumental in ever
increasing investments in infrastructure and on large projects intended to improve the quality of life of
the human race. Due to this enormous increase in investments across the world, the area of Structural
Engineering has assumed significant importance. It is an area where the engineers world over had
responded with great innovations and is an area which will witness even more disruptive technologies
developing. Complex innovations cannot take place when confined to one region or a country and it
does not respect even barriers across disciplines. I am extremely happy to note that the Structural
Engineering World Congress (SEWC) has been very active in creating platforms such as International
Conferences to bring people together to share their knowledge, experience and best practices so that
the sharing of knowledge can contribute to its multiplication for the good of the humanity. I understand
that the World congress meetings in San Francisco, Yokohama and Bangalore have been extremely
successful. The 4th one planned to be held in Italy in April, 2011 is touted to be the largest and a
technically rich meeting.

The idea of launching an International Journal, on the occasion of the 4th Structural Engineering World
Congress meet by the SEWC is a very important step and is in the right direction of aligning the thought
leadership in this area towards global dissemination of knowledge and I am sure that this will grow the
area of Structural Engineering in a very impactful way.

On behalf of the Indian Institute of Science and on my own personal behalf, I wish to greet the SEWC
and those brilliant brains behind its activities and wish them all the very best in their efforts in furthering
the frontiers of research in Structural Engineering.

Sincerely yours,

N Balakrishnan

46 Journal of SEWC | April 2011


Structural Engineers
World Congress
- Idea to Reality
Introduction
Structural engineering has been a
developing profession for more than
one hundred years. The first structural
engineering office in the western
United States (US) was opened in San
Francisco by H. J. Brunnier after the
1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Previously structural design of most
buildings was performed by
architectural offices.
In some countries, universities do
not offer structural engineering “tracks”
but require architectural engineering
courses for building designers. Civil
engineers take different engineering
courses to become designers of
highways, bridges, marine structures,
dams, and so forth. In recognition of
the potential impact of structural and
civil engineering designs, there is a
growing trend in the U.S. and some
other countries to require a graduate
Roland L Sharpe
Founding President SEWC, Inc. (1)
degree as a major qualifier for an
engineer to take an examination for
professional engineering license.
The societal impact of the structural
engineer (SE) is often quite broad. As a
result the SE may face major legal
liability should something go awry with
his design.
It became apparent in the 1980s
and early 1990s that the world was
becoming smaller due to modern
technology and the economy was
becoming global as international trade
barriers were being removed by
agreements such as NAFTA, GATT,
European Union and pending
agreements in southeast Asia.
Financial interactions between
countries were being transacted on a
24-hour basis as new communication
technology became available. Major
companies from many countries were
expanding by building new plants or
Article
acquiring existing companies in
countries with probable markets for
their products.
Architect-engineer companies
were being asked to design facilities in
many countries. Building codes,
building materials, regulatory
procedures, permit requirements,
quality control, and processing varied
from nation to nation. Structural
engineers were being challenged to
provide required professional services.
Many international meetings were
being held on specific architectural
and structural engineering topics -
such as tall building design, bridge
design, ports and harbors, concrete
structures, steel buildings, Euro
standards, and so on. Few formal
discussions were held covering the
broader aspects of structural
engineering.
It was becoming apparent that SEs
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 47
Structural Engineers World Congress - Idea to Reality
needed to look beyond local and
regional markets and learn from
counterparts in other countries. The
best way to accomplish this was to
meet and discuss face to face.
Informal discussions in the mid
1980s between U.S. and Japanese
structural engineers and researchers
raised questions about the role of the
s t r u c t u r a l e n g i n e e r, r e q u i r e d
capabilities, and how the SE public
image could be improved. Further
informal meetings and mail
correspondence over several years
examined in some detail how this
interaction could best be
accomplished. These interactions led
to small meetings at American Society
of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) Congresses in the U.S.
which culminated in 1994 when six
professional organizations agreed to
form a coalition to sponsor and
organize the first Structural Engineers
World Congress (July 18 to 23, 1998) in
San Francisco.
Recognition of the need for a world-
wide SE Congress, need for interaction
between SEs worldwide, scope and
impact of SE services and effects on
society, the need to improve the image
and credibility of the SE grew over the
next few years. The development of the
concept of a worldwide SE meeting, its
purpose, organizational structure, pos-
sible location, probable participants,
topics to be covered, and other appro-
priate issues are discussed in the fol-
lowing text.
Early Discussions
In 1980 the U.S. National Science
Foundation (NSF) and Japan Building
Research Institute (BRI) initiated a joint
study involving full scale lateral load
testing of structural steel and
reinforced concrete structures. The
purpose of the study was to determine
if additional and/or modified reinforcing
of beam/column connections was
needed to improve the seismic
resistance of these types of structures;
in addition which type of computer
analysis could best predict the ultimate
48 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
resistance capacity of each type of
structure. Meetings were held mostly in
Tsukuba, Japan where the testing was
being performed at the BRI Test Facility.
Informal discussions held between
U.S. and Japanese structural engi-
neers and researchers
about structural engineers and
what their role should be were dis-
cussed. The initial result was conven-
ing of a joint U.S.- Japan Workshop in
1984 in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss
structural practices in the two coun-
tries, the role of the structural engineer,
and how could the public image of the
SE be improved. After a successful
meeting it was unanimously agreed
that Workshop meetings should be
held every two years. The concept of a
broader scope SE meeting was infor-
mally discussed.
1991- 1992 - Comments and
suggestions were exchanged via
facsimile and telephone discussions
between the author and JSCA repre-
sentatives and other SEs in the U.S.
The American Society of Civil Engi-
neers (ASCE) and other professional
organizations convened annual
meetings where structural engineering
technical sessions were presented
covering the gamut of structural topics.
In the United States, the ASCE
Structural Division organized and
convened Annual Structural Engineer-
ing Congresses mostly attended by US
engineers. At these meetings small
groups of structural engineers would
meet, often in informal sessions, to
discuss topics of general interest to the
engineering profession. Attendees
represented professional organiza-
tions from various countries.
1993 - Informal discussions and
correspondence continued between
JSCA representatives, ASCE Structural
Division (STD) members, and others. In
April 1993 - at STD Annual Structures
Congress in Irvine, California - a
meeting was held of major U.S. SE
organizations plus others including
JSCA - to further discuss the need and
desirability of organizing a World
Structures Congress (WSC). As a
result of the discussions, the ASCE
STD established an Ad Hoc Committee
on World Structural Congress
Feasibility worldwide, scope and
impact of SE services and effects on
society, the need to improve the image
and credibility of the SE grew over the
next few years. The development of the
concept of a worldwide SE meeting, its
purpose, organizational structure,
possible location, probable
participants, topics to be covered, and
other appropriate issues are discussed
in the following text composed of
representatives from American
Concrete Institute (ACI), International
Association of Bridge and Structural
Engineers (IABSE), National Council of
Structural Engineering Associations
(NCSEA) of U.S., Structural Engineers
Association of California (SEAOC) and
ASCE STD. The author was elected
Committee Chair. Japan Structural
Consultants Association (JSCA) was
invited to participate in the Committee.
In October, the committee was
elevated to an STD Task Committee
and in January 1994 met in San
Francisco to review input from parent
organizations, and develop preliminary
recommendations.
Range of SE Activities
Although several international
organizations exist that serve structural
engineers needs in specific areas such
as bridges and buildings (IABCE), tall
buildings, earthquake engineering,
they do not serve many aspects of SE
concerns. A consensus developed in
the Task Committee that the WSC
should include the full range of SE
issues - technical, professional, ethics,
education, legal, construction,
products, and other related issues.
There should be exhibits along with
sessions on these topics. It also
became apparent that the WSC should
be “people” oriented with the theme of
getting to know each other better. It
was estimated that there are about
50,000 structural engineers in the U.S.
and perhaps 200,000 or more in the
world.
The question of who is a structural

engineer was examined. As noted
previously, in Japan civil engineers
design bridges and other structures
associated with infrastructure and
mostly work for the government. This
appears to be true for some other
countries. It was recommended that all
engineers designing and constructing
structures are considered structural
engineers and should be included in
WSC. The Committee felt strongly that
the WSC should not become a
membership organization and should
not compete with existing international
SE organizations.
April 1994 - at the Annual ASCE
STD Congress in Atlanta, Georgia, the
Task Committee met and after
considerable discussion voted
unanimously to proceed with the
planning and organizing of a WSC.
ASCE stated that it did not want to be
the lead organization but believed that
a coalition of organizations should
manage the WSC, with sponsors
providing up-front funds to finance the
event. Co-sponsors would provide
some funding plus “in-kind” support.
JSCA pledged $15,000 in up-front
funds, ASCE and others said they
would contact their parent
organizations for funding.
The group agreed that a separate
organization consisting of the coalition
members should be formed with the
specific purpose of organizing the
WSC. An Initial Steering Committee
(ISC) was appointed from
representatives of the six organizations
present at the meeting who agreed to
sponsor or cosponsor the WSC. The
author was elected as Committee
Chair.
1994 - In the ensuing months,
about 100 letters were sent to SE
and/or professional engineering
organizations in countries around the
world to determine their interest as a
participating, cosponsoring, or
sponsoring organization in a World
Structures Congress (WSC). Forty five
responses were received - twenty five
indicated interest as a sponsor,
Structural Engineers World Congress - Idea to Reality
cosponsor or participating
organization. Several others said they
would sponsor one or more technical
sessions. The Committee members
corresponded by mail, facsimile, and
telephone.
October 1994 - The ISC met in San
Francisco to formalize the organization
and start initial planning for the WSC.
Many important decisions were made:
1. Name changed to Structural Engi-
neers World Congress (SEWC).
SEWC to be incorporated as a non-
profit public interest corporation in
California. Six founders - ACI,
ASCE, IASS, JSCA, NCSEA, and
SEAOC.
2. Korean Society of Civil Engineers
was welcomed as a sponsoring
organization and a member of the
SEWC Board of Directors..
3. Officers were elected.
4. San Francisco was selected for the
first Congress to be held in 1998 -
d a te t o b e det er mi ned b y
availability of a prime hotel.
5. Initial organization of Congress
planning effort - Steering, Program,
Arrangements, Financial, Advisory
Committees and others were
established.
6. Directors were given various
assignments - to recommend
candidates for committee chairs,
possible funding sources, and
additional sponsors and/or
cosponsors.
1994-1998 Activities
A major change in organization was
made by separating the Program Com-
mittee into two Committees - Technical
Program Committee; and Professional
& Practice Issues Committee. The
change was initiated because many
Structural meetings emphasize aca-
demic and research papers with lim-
ited presentations on practical prob-
lems associated with running an office,
establishing fees, professional liability,
marketing, and similar. A basic premise
of SEWC was that many issues faced
by the SE are non-technical yet are very
important to the progress and function-
ing of the SE profession.
A Call for Abstracts was issued and
mailed to over 1,000 professionals and
institutions. The Abstracts were
carefully reviewed by the respective
Program Committees. More than 900
abstracts were reviewed and a total of
723 papers were accepted and
presented at the Congress.
There were about 1800 participants
from 49 different countries. A large num-
ber of exhibitors presented their prod-
ucts. The 1998 SEWC was considered
a great success, many laudatory com-
ments were expressed by attendees.
JSCA promptly submitted an
application to sponsor the next SEWC
in Japan in 2002. The SEWC, Inc. BoD
approved their application and
authorized JSCA to proceed.
1998-2007 Activities
JSCA formed a separate
corporation to manage SEWC2002. A
planning schedule was developed,
project budget established,
committees appointed, and a
marketing group set up.
Solicitations were sent to major SE
organizations requesting sponsorship
and up-front funding.
The emphasis of the Congress was
focussed on addressing on an
international basis the many
professional issues facing the
structural engineering profession.
There was considerable effort to
encourage presentations on
professional issues including how
various countries are reacting to the
most recent trends affecting the
profession including advances in
modern technology, new social trends,
and professional changes.
SEWC 2002 was held in Yokohama,
Japan October 9-12, 2002. There were
1300 participants from 35 countries
and 384 papers from 27 countries.
Concerted efforts were made to help
participants interact at various social
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 49
Structural Engineers World Congress - Idea to Reality
events. SEWC 2002 was a great
success.
SEWC 2007 was held in Bangalore,
India November 4-9, 2007. Over 1400
participants attended.
There was a substantial number of
exhibitors. The Congress was
excellent.
SEWC India organized and hosted
"International Colloquium on
Architecture-Structural Interaction
Bangalore April 22 to 25, 2010. The
organizers invited a number of
international engineers and architects
as keynote speakers - each of them
gave excellent presentations. There
were 900 engineers and architects plus
200 students in attendance. An
excellent Colloquium.
Concluding Remarks
As noted earlier the structural
engineering profession is continually
expanding world wide.
The cultures and needs of the world
are ever changing. The SE profession
is intimately involved because of the
need for new industries, factories,
laboratories, infrastructure, and related
facilities. This expanding market for the
SE profession brings with it many new
issues facing the SE such as:
50 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
International Professional Licensing
Increased Educational Require-
ments
More Restrictive Regulatory
Requirements
Sustainability of Structures
Life Cycle Design and Cost
Business Ethics
Environmental Requirements
Legal Liability
New Materials and Their Long Term
Behavior Under Stress Improved
Collaboration with Architectural
Profession
Improved Quality Assurance
Better Understanding of Risks
From Natural Hazards
Other issues will undoubtedly arise
as the future unfolds.
Acknowledgments
Many engineering colleagues have
contributed to the concept, convening,
and success of SEWC 1998, SEWC
2002, and SEWC 2007. I would like to
congratulate and thank each of you for
your selfless dedication and efforts to
improve the SE profession. Many of
you put in long hours to help ensure
that each of the Congresses were a
success.
I would especially like to acknowledge
the efforts and dedication of:
Dr. Katsumi Yano, JSCA Past
President
Professor N K Srivastava, Emeritus,
University of Moncton, New
Brunswick, Canada
Professor Alfredo H-S Ang,
Emeritus, University of California -
Irvine, California
Professor Gregory L. Fenves,
University of California, Berkeley,
California
* Dr. Sundaram, President of SEWC,
Inc.
Dr. Ron Domer, Danville, California
A. Yamaki, Nikken Sekkei, Tokyo,
Japan
I apologize for any name not
mentioned above - you have my
deepest thanks.
ASCE - Distinquished Member;
JSCA - Honorary Member
SEAOC - College of Fellows;
SEAONC - Honorary Member
EERI - Honorary Member; ACI - Life
Member
Association of Consulting
Engineers India, Honorary Fellow
Member.
Article

REMINISCENCES - Sankalp
-An architectural adventure story

Prof. Jaisim K
Jaisim Fountainhead, Bangalore

A
few years ago while sitting at
my desk in walked a very
confident individual asking for
sometime and would I be interested in
designing a home for him and his
family. I was at that time mired in many
works and responded “if you give me
complete freedom I might do it” to
which the response was, “agreed, but on
one condition I will review your design
and if not acceptable I may not go ahead”.
Deal accepted advance non refunda-
ble paid- and I had nothing to loose.

Preliminary investigations made

and said “when ready will call you and if
I come up with nothing you cannot ask
for the advance back”. “Done” and
accepting the challenge I took it upon
myself to see what I can come up with
nothing to loose. The list of
requirements was long a whole
integrated joint family to be resettled
from a small urban apartment into a
whole new environment.
I set pencil and crayon to paper
and every spare time was spent on
this sketch. I only used only one thick
sheet and on it superimposed sketch
over sketch emphasizing the
decisions with color and charcoal.
Weeks passed, I thought he would call
and say “time up”. But not a whimper,
almost a month later when I thought I
had spent enough time “come over”
and he did within the hour.
ONE LOOK “I have never seen any-
thing like this- and I must say I have
been to many architects but this is well”
with that he took the drawing saying “will
get back if We accept it” the way he reac-
ted I thought it would be the last of him.
Ten minutes later he was back
gave me one hard look and said “can
you really build this and I have a view of
how it might look”. I replied “as of now I
don't know but I shall and I never give
views of my projects and that was a
pre-condition” In his very individualistic

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 51


he agreed and asked “how much it
would cost”. I replied “I do not know”
And in passing I added “it can only
be built by a builder I trust and have
confidence in”
And the real story of realization
began It dawned on me after he left Oh
boy, what have I got into this
extraordinary organic form with flowing
walls and interplaying spaces moving
into smoothly rising levels. I had never
done anything like this before, I was
sure he would take the drawing and
run. Here was something more than a
challenge- this was DO or DIE.
Called JACK Srinivas (the builder)
“think we can do it” “Sir, you put your
mind and it is done” was the confident
reply. And to add fuel to the fire we
decided to go all the way and see how
much we could stretch ourselves.
Country bricks and that too used
vertically to get the soft curves and
heights, was the main material and so
kilns were and hunted and orders placed.
Now, the site smiled mischievously
and added its own challenge, there
was a reservoir nearby and arrogantly
we set the base of the building lower
than the water table, and seepage and
dampness became a big issue along
with the black cotton soil. We rose to
the challenge no normal foundations
A big pad of rocks as large as the
house and wider was laid in layers and
52 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
REMENISENSES - Sankalp - An architectural adventure story
rollers used to compact them. Over this
a concrete base cum floor was
integrated something like aerodrome
runway. If planes weighing several
tones can land with immense force why
not some dumb walls stand!. But the
walls loved it and began to sing. And as
we rose with them we took their
performance to greater heights by
making them move outwards defying
every logic in their sensual movement
which finally got crowned by the vast
brick dome. Amazing is what came to
be realized. Little did we comprehend
the extent of the achievement?
We were all in such a mood that
every movement was orchestrated with
all sorts of inputs as long as there was
some value in them. From the humble
laborer to the Maistrys to every other
worker would with a smile come up with
their inputs and innovations to make
this a real master piece. This clearly
expressed the hidden talent that many
forgotten humans have in their daily
chores.
We were like children in their play
den, time was forgotten. It went on and
on the adventure never seemed to end
and I do not see it ending even today.
That Home beckons me like a siren
asking for more and more indulgence.
The lighting of the dome is mastered
with clay pots that define the time of the
year, like a Sun calendar. The
resonance that this space affords is
magical if I may say so. It is a mystifying
atmosphere every nook and corner has
a little story within the larger story.
Sankalp is an epic, it cannot be
described easily with words, and it
must be lived and felt. It takes abuse as
easily as praise.
I can go and on, From the Garage
to the service quarters and the
gardens it is one experience. Yes,
even the garage- must be seen to be
believed. BUT Sankalp is a very
mischievous living being, it does not
like being neglected or left alone, it
demands attention like all intelligent
children do. IT is not just a Home, it is
part of one's life.
Awaiting Sankalp's next call I will
sign off!
Jaisim
www.jaisim-fountainhead.com §
 Article

Hyderabad International Airport

Passenger Terminal Building
- Project Description

Winston Teng Shu

Principal, Integrated Design Associates Ltd., Hong Kong

T
o meet the growing demands of
the city a new, modern green
field airport was planned at
Shamshabad on the outskirts of the
city. The project is the first privately
developed airport in India, a consor-
tium led by GMR, comprises of the
Airport Authority of India and Malaysian
Airports Authority. The new airport is
designed to handle 12 million passen-
gers per annum initially and will in its final
stages be expanded to 40 million pas-
senger per annum ultimate capacity.
The Passenger Terminal Building
(PTB) design is based on a central
processor linked with two linear piers,
serving 10 contact stands in Phase 1
but extendable to accommodate 32
contact stands in its final phase. A high
level of operational flexibility has been
built in to meet the park demands for
domestic and international operations
through Swing Gates. The PTB is
designed to meet the latest
international standards by ICAO / IATA,
including the full segregation of
departure and arrival flows, short
unassisted walking distances, 60
minutes Minimum Connecting Time,
boarding bridges that can serve

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 53

Hyderabad International Airport Passenger Terminal Building - Project Description

aircrafts from code C to code F, in line

5-levels security screening for all hold
baggage, and the provisions for a fully-
automated baggage handling system.
The rationalized design proposes
an alternative organization of major
functions, space utilization, structural
grids and service systems within the
PTB to the given Masterplan. The
alternative new design created a PTB
that is highly modularized and
repetitive to ease construction;
eliminated a 10m deep basement to
shorten the construction schedule;
reduced the overall construction area
by 8.5% to save cost while the revenue
generating areas have been increased
by 12.7% to improve investment
returns. The alternative design was
commissioned in September 2005 and
the 105,000m2 PTB and the Air Traffic departure passenger flows, and disciplines, the work was packaged
Control Complex are scheduled to through the skylights with the floating, systematically to allow timely
complete in a record time of 30 months iconic “Temple Leaf” reflectors hung exchange of design information in a
from the date. below them, the entire PTB departure progressively structured manner. The
level is totally lit by natural light during project's tight budget constraints also
The architectural design of the PTB
the day and by diffused up lights in the demanded a high degree of cost
has a lofty and flowing roof form,
night. effectiveness analysis throughout the
spanning from the Airport Village by
design process, including capital
means of a fabric structure, it reaches The 2.5 year's period from design
costs, life cycle costs, developing
the peak over the Check in Hall and inception to operation means an
alternatives, etc. The close co-
finally lowers down to shield the façade extremely tight program for a project of
operation between the various
from solar heat along the 1.2km length this scale. To ensure on-time
disciplines required a strong
piers on the airside. The flowing roof completion of the design to meet the
management of teamwork, and in the
gives a strong direction to the stringent procurements program by all
12 months of detail design the team
produced over 3500 detail drawings for
construction. The new airport and the
PTB has opened on 14 March 2008 by
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and it begins
operational in the week following. The
PTB has become an architectural
landmark for it is the first major
infrastructure public building of this
scale being commissioned in the
modern era India.

In recognition of excellence in its

design and services provided to the
travelling public, the Hyderabad
International Airport has been awarded
one of the Top Five Best Airports
Worldwide, and the Best Airport by size
in the 5 15 mppa category by the
Airports council International of
Geneva in 2009. §

54 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

News

Incredible but True - 15 - Storeyed Panama Canal

Hotel Built in Less than 6 Days Alternative being
planned by China
The pace, at which China has under-
taken seemingly impossible con- China is now reportedly in talks with
struction tasks, has been impressive the government of Columbia for the
over the years. The country is now construction of a 220 km rail link that
perhaps home to more mega struc- will join the latter's Atlantic and Pacific
tures than anywhere else in the Coasts.The link would involve han-
world. But another recent project, dling cargo containers, with the link
takes the cake, for not being the big- transporting them in a much more
gest project, but for the speed at used just one sixth of the material of quicker time, in a cost effective man-
which this particular building was an equivalent sized building with a ner across the two coasts. This link , if
built. A 15 storeyed hotel was built in cost saving of around 20 percent. complete, could pose a real threat to
6 days flat. Now, that is something The designers have also incorpo- the Panama Canal.
incredible. rated several energy efficient fea-
tures in the building to make it five Colombian president Juan Manuel
The building, which epitomizes the Santos is reported to have said "It's a
times more energy efficient than
prowess of the country's construc- real proposal. It is quite advanced. I
other comparable buildings. Some
tion engineers, is located in don't want to create exaggerated
of the features include, 6 inches of
Changsha, Hunan province. The expectations, but it makes a lot of
thermal insulation, LED lighting sys-
company behind the building has
tems, external solar shades and tri- sense." The proposal is now being
been China's Broad Group. The com-
ple pane windows. There are reports eagerly watched by several leading
pany pitched all its might and came
that the company intends to con- countries around the world.
out with this astounding achieve-
struct 15 other similar buildings else-
ment by constructing the 15- Rough estimates put the cost of the
where in China and 30 in other parts
storeyed Ark Hotel in less than six project at about US $7.5 billion.
of the world.
days time. Critics of the proposal however feel
It must be noted here that the below- that the project is not required with
Meticulous planning was behind the
ground construction and foundation the successful expansion of the canal,
rapid pace at which the construction
were completed before the count- which has doubled its capacity, allow-
work took place. A team of around
down was started. The building also ing for the passage of large ships.
200 workers worked in perfect tan-
uses several prefabricated compo-
dem to achieve the feat. The struc-
nents, which is essential for setting
tural framework of the building was
such scorching pace. Even when
erected in just 46.5 hours. The exter-
these caveats are taken into
nal cladding and internal non-
account, the construction of the
structural surfaces were completed
building is a remarkable story that
in a matter of just 90 hours, making it
showcases the rapid strides that the
one of the most remarkable feats of
construction industry has made in China.
construction ever attempted.
This is not the first time that the
The building has been designed to
Broad Group has been in news. The Cute Bubble Tents
withstand a 9.0 magnitude earth-
quake too. Not only this, the hotel
company had earlier completed the could be perfect for
construction of a fairly complex
pavilion in the Shanghai World Expo Living in the Wild
in just one day flat. Apart from the
Cute little Bubble Tents could be the
speed of construction, the Ark Hotel
perfect answer to staying in jungles,
also brings into attention the fact that
as man once used to do earlier.
sustainable building technology can
These bubble tents have been
be incorporated in such structures.
The building is also a symbol of the
launched by a company named
building waste minimization, as the Bubbletree and have become a hit
world looks towards a greener future. with those looking to enjoy wilder-
ness in its entire splendor.

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 55

 News

Frank Gehry's New Iconic Skyscraper in New York

The globe-shaped prefabricated
dwelling is available in half-transpa-
rent or fully transparent designs. The
manufacturers have also come out with
several different models of the bubble
tents to suit different requirements.
The bubble tents come complete
with sofas; roll out beds and portable
wardrobes. The manufacturers have
also made provisions for customiz-
ing the bubble tents to be tree sus-
pended versions.
Ancient Church now
becomes a
Modern Bookstore
World renowned architect Frank
Gehry's new iconic skyscraper
opened in New York amidst much fan-
fare recently.
The building has been the talk of the
town and has created a buzz in the
engineering and architect commu-
nity. The 76-storeyed building named
“New York by Gehry” has laid claims
to being the tallest residential tower in
the western region.
Some critics in the city have called
the building “the best skyscraper
since the 1960s” in New York. The
building is also said to be on the verge
of going in for green certification.
A Luxury Hotel that will
be Completely Underground

An ancient Dominican Church has

been transformed into a spectacular
modern book store, thanks to the cre-
ative genius of architecture. The
Church which dates back to the 13th
Century has been briefly used as a
parish, before it was converted into a
warehouse and then into a giant park-
ing lot. It was converted into its pres-
ent form by architecture firm Merkx
and Girod.
There is a special viewing gallery at
the back of the structure from where
visitors can admire the spectacular
14th century ceiling frescoes or relax
over a cup of coffee at the café that is
located in place of the former choir.
London is already home to some
of the most exotic luxury hotels in
the world. You can now add one
more to the list in the form of a five
star hotel that will be, believe it or
not, completely underground.
The new hotel, designed by
Reardon Smith Architects, would
be located at the Hersham Golf
Club in Surrey, London. The hotel
will have 200 plus guestrooms, all
underground, making it one of the
most unique hotels in the world.
The entire area would be covered
with a lush green garden that
would blend seamlessly with the
natural beauty of the surrounding
country side.

56 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

News

Landmark tower Resembling Chinese Lantern

Guosen Towers a new landmark tower
slated for Shenzhen, China resem-
bles a giant Chinese lantern, the 204
meter tall tower will feature shading
louvers on every floor, rainwater recy-
cling, and natural day -lighting for
each employee's work station.
The volume of the tower has a square
floor plan with an elegant, slender vol-
ume that allows daylight to reach into
the building to provide a more plea-
surable working environment for
employees. So that each worker has
access to views and natural daylight,
no workspace was placed further
than 11 meters away from the facade.
The edge of each floor was angled
down 35-55 degrees to create a
shade for the floor below and large
glass fronts connect these louvers
together. Each louver's size and angle
was optimized for its location on the
building and relationship to the sun.
For example, on the north side, the lou-
vers are smaller than on the south side.
The louvers can also accommodate
solar panels to generate electricity,
and they reduce the overall cooling
load by 33%. Rainwater is collected
off the louvers and piped into the grey
water circulation for use inside the
building. Plus a lengthy water pipe sys-
tem runs invisibly through the façade
collecting heat from the sun, and the
solar cells heat up water. Employees
and visitors also have quick and easy
access via an underground tunnel to
the nearby metro station.
Parts of the facade are lifted to create
a double height ceiling for a more dra-
matic effect and better views of the
city. These two double height features
in the middle of the tower are
designed as small amphitheatre with
terraced seating that can be used for
conferences and gatherings. A low
rise building next to the tower holds a
shopping and conference center. The
end result of the louvered tower
resembles a giant Chinese lantern,
which will provide a warm glow to the
city at night.

Ultima Tower A 2-mile high Mt Doom-Esque Structure

Architect Eugene Tsui is taking the
gigantic volcano tower concept to a
whole new eco level, by taking design
inspiration from the natural world. His
new design for the Ultima Tower a 2-
mile high Mt Doom-esque structure
borrows design principles from trees
and other living system to reduce its
energy footprint. Tsui's concept for
this towering, ultra-dense urban
development has certainly captured
the attention with its thought-
provoking design.
The Ultima Tower is an innovative
green design concept proposed to
resourcefully use earth's surface and
allow sustainable distribution of
resources within a dense urban
setting. Designed to withstand
natural calamities, Ultima Tower is
highly stable and aerodynamic.
Rather than spreading horizontally
the structure rises vertically from a
base with a 7,000 foot diameter
inspired in part by the termite's nest
structures of Africa, the highest
structure created by any living
organism.
Surrounded on all sides by a lake, the
building would use building inte-
grated photo-voltaic solar cells to
meet most of the electrical energy
requirements. The tower would also
use Atmospheric Energy Conversion
to exploit the differences in atmo-
spheric pressure at the bottom and
top of the tower and convert this differ-
ential into electrical power. Wind tur-
bine energy would also be used to
power the tower.

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 57

Events
ConBuild 2011 Indonesia
In 2011, MesseMünchen International (MMI), a
leading organizer of global trade fairs will be
launching the successful ConBuild trade fair
concept in Southeast Asia's biggest economy
and high growth market of Indonesia.
Under MMI's INFRASTRUCTURE initiative to
support and promote infrastructure
development through top class international
trade fairs and conferences, ConBuild extends
this initiative to the Construction and Building
sector the foremost sector in infrastructure
development.
Details
Dates: 13th April 2011 16th April 2011
Contact Point: Ms. Denise Jones
Tele: +65 6236 0988
Fax: +65 6236 1966
Email: info@conbuild-indonesia.com
Website: http://www.conbuild-
indonesia.com/homepage.html
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
gulfBID 2011 - Bahrain
The 6th Edition of the annual exhibition for the
Construction industry in the Northern
Gulf,gulfBID is the event that brings leading
suppliers, brands, equipment and services face-
to-face with clients and buyers with an aim of
inspiring more deals and implementation of the
latest trends and ideas.
Details
Dates:26th April 28th April 2011
Contact Point: Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions
Tele: +973 17 299123
Fax: +973 17 299155
Email: kimwillis@tradearabia.ae
Website: www.gulfbidexhibition.com
Location: Hall 1, Bahrain International
Exhibition and Convention Centre
58 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
Project Qatar 2011
In its 8th consecutive year, Project Qatar 2011 is
one of the region's leading construction events.
This highly anticipated show has become an
annual networking event for companies and
individuals operating across all construction
sectors. A perfect platform for high-caliber
investment deals, an ideal showcase for the
latest cutting-edge construction machinery,
equipment, systems and material, Project Qatar
provides a unique opportunity to conduct
business and gain access to a competitive
market with the industry's top companies and
professional visitors in one convenient location.
Details
Dates: 2nd May 5th May 2011
Contact Point: IFP Qatar Ltd.
Tele: +974-4-329900
Fax: +974-4-432891
Email: michel.gebrael@ifpqatar.com
Website: http://www.projectqatar.com/
Location: Doha, Qatar
Construmat 2011 - Spain
Construmat is synonymous with construction
materials. It's the trade show that brings together
the whole sector. The Show is a benchmark in
Europe and is a recognized platform that offers
the best opportunities for expansion.
Details
Dates: 16th May 21st May 2011
Contact Point: Fira Barcelona
Tele: 902 233 200
Fax: 93 233 21 98
Email: info(at)firabcn.esconstrumat@firabcn .es
Website: www.construmat.com
Location: Barcelona, Spain

CTT Moscow 2011
Since its foundation in 2000, the CTT has rapidly
developed into the most important trade fair for
construction equipment and technology in
Russia and the CIS. Its concept offers
international machinery and equipment
manufacturers the opportunity of entering the
markets of Russia and the CIS and of
surrounding regions.
Details
Dates: 31st March 4th April 2011
Contact Point: IMAG Internationaler Messe-und
Ausstellungsdienst GmbH / Medial Global
International Group
Tele: 089-94922-0 / +7-495-2035300
Fax: 089-94922-350 / +7-495-2034100
Email: imag@imag.de / ctt@mediaglobe.ru
Website: www.ctt-moscow.com
Location: Moscow, Russia
MADEexpo 2011 - Italy
The objective of MADE expo is to satisfy a
precise market requirement, to overcome the
lack in Italy of an important world-class
showcase. Made expo strives to guarantee
productive excellence in terms of the technology
and design of Italian business and provide an
exhibition setting able to capture international
attention.
Details
Dates: 5th October 8th October 2011
Contact Point: MADE eventisrl
Tele: +39 02 80604440
Fax: +39 02 80604397
Email:info@madeexpo.it
Website: www.madeexpo.it/en/index.php
Location: Fiera Milano
Events
Concrete Show 2011 - Brazil
Concrete Show South America 2011is the
largest international event for technology in
highway, building and infrastructure specifically
in Latin America. It will serve as an international
meeting point for business and technological
users of concrete and their users.
Details
Dates: 31st August 2nd September 2011
Contact Point: UBM Sienna, André
Sanches(Event Manager)
Tele: +55 11 46891935
Fax: +55 11 46891926
Email: asanches@ubmsienna.com.br
Website: www.concreteshow.com.br
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Constru India 2011
CONSTRU India is designed as the perfect
platform to introduce new technologies. Backed
by our direct contact with the industry, we intend
to bring together buyers and sellers enabling
scope of a perfect presentation.Constru
Indiafocuses on six major segments. Viz. Urban
Infrastructure & Transportation, Green &
Intelligent Buildings, Build with Steel,
Construction Engineering & Design,
Construction & Building Materials, Electricals in
Building & Construction.
Details
Dates: November 2011
Contact Point: India-Tech Foundation / Winmark
Services Pvt. Ltd.
Tele: +91-22-2648-4901 / +91-22-2660-5550
Fax: +91-22-2260-3992 / +91-22-2660-3992
Email: itf@vsnl.com / info@winmark.co.in
Website: www.winmark.co.in
Location: Mumbai, India
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 59
60 Journal of SEWC | April 2011
April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 61
 STRUCTURAL
ENGINEERS
WORLD
CONGRESS 2015
- SINGAPORE

SEWC 2015
The City of Iconic Structures Beckons Structural Engineers

T he 5th Structural Engineers World Congress (SEWC), which is dedicated to the art, science, and practice of structural
engineering, is slated to be held in Singapore in 2015.The event holds special significance as it marks an occasion where the
conference is being held in a city, which is renowned for its prowess in structural engineering and its iconic buildings. The event
would be conducted by the Association of Consulting Engineers, Singapore (ACES) and the Prestressed and Precast Concrete
Society of Singapore (PPCS).
The World Congress held every four years, aims to cover major aspects pertaining to technical, and professional practice
issues. The congress focuses on the needs and the contemporary issues of the structural engineering profession worldwide and
highlights the profession's interface with the society. It also re-iterates the impact of the structural engineering profession on the
society reflected by excellent public image, standing, and credibility of structural engineers. SEWC 2015 presents exce llent
opportunities for structural engineering professionals to interact with each other and to learn more about what is happening in the
World of Structural Engineering.

Jointly Organized by Supported By

Prestressed and
ACES Precast Society BCA SECB

62 Journal of SEWC | April 2011

Ramasamy

April 2011 | Journal of SEWC 63

64 Journal of SEWC | April 2011