Estudio analítico y experimental de los efectos de las deformaciones impuestas en las estructuras integrales

Analytic and experimental study of imposed deformation effects in integral structures

A large amount of civil and building structures is designed with joints in order to minimize the effects of imposed deformations due to shrinkage, creep (prestressed structures) and temperature. This has become common practice to a large extent due to the lack of knowledge of the effects of imposed deformations on structures and due to the permanence of a code of actions in Spain, in need of an update. In the case of structural engineering, especially when dealing with large public buildings, this design practice leads to a bad relation between structure and architecture and to an unnatural division between them. It also makes it impossible for the designer to benefit from the advantages derived from other structural solutions, and even worse, creates operational, maintenance and durability problems. Joints, which are meant to minimize the forces generated by imposed deformations, mainly due to shrinkage, creep and temperature, are expensive and can be the origin of local problems due to poor performance and a lack of maintenance. The design of integral structures requires an effort in order to analyze the effects of imposed deformations, which can easily be repaid by the benefits of eliminating the joints. The purpose of the study is to analyze the effects of imposed deformations on integral structures through a balanced combination of analytical study and experimental tests. Therefore, a first proposal is to obtain experimental data from in situ measurements of real structures during construction. On a second level, laboratory tests on simplified prototypes are proposed that allow the study of the involved phenomena. Finally, the application of an adequate model capable of representing these common structural problemsselected from several already existing models, is proposed. The comparison with the measured data would allow calibrating the model. Another objective is to use this model in other cases. This may finally lead towards the achievement of more general criteria included in a more modern code of standards.