Precast Concrete Construction http://faculty.delhi.edu/hultendc/A220-Week5-Lecture.

htm

Precast Concrete Construction

1. Advantages of Precast Concrete Construction:

Very rapid speed of erection

Good quality control
Entire building can be precast - walls, floors, beams, etc.

2. Disadvantages of Precast Concrete Construction:

Very heavy members

Camber in beams and slabs
Very small margin for error
Connections may be difficult
Need bracing during on-site erection of structure
Somewhat limited building design flexibility

3. Typical Precast Concrete Members:

A. Slabs:

a) Flat slab -

Thicknesses of 4", 6" and 8"

Spans up to 25’-0"
Standard panel width = 4’-0"
Typical designations = FS4 (FS = Flat Slab, 4 = thickness of slab in inches)
= FS4+2 (2 = 2" of concrete topping added)

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b) Hollow Core slab -

Thicknesses of 4", 6", 8", 10" and 12"

Spans up to 40’-0"
Standard panel width = 4’-0"
Typical designations = 4HC6 (4 = panel width in feet, HC = Hollow Core, 6 = slab thickness in
inches)
= 4HC6+2 (2 = 2" of concrete topping added)

B. Beams:

a) Rectangular Beam (RB) -

Typical beam width = 12" or 16"

Spans up to 50’-0"

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Typical designation = 16RB24 (16 = width in inches, 24 = depth in inches)

b) "L" and "IT" (inverted "Tee") beams (LB and IT) -

Typically used to support slabs, walls, masonry, and beams

Typical beam width = 12"
Depths of 20", 28", 36", 44", 52" and 60"

c) Double Tee Beam (DT) -

Combination beam and slab

Spans up to 100’-0"
Typical width = 8’-0"
Depths of 12", 18", 24" and 32"
Designation = 8DT24+2 (8 = width in feet, 24 = depth, +2 = 2" topping)

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d) Single Tee Beam (ST) -

Combination beam and slab

Spans up to 120’-0"
Typical width = 8’-0"
Typical depths of 36" and 48"
Designation = 8ST36+2 (8 = width in feet, 24 = depth, +2 = 2" topping)

C. Walls:

Wall panels available in standard 8’-0" widths.

Can be flat, or have architectural features such as window and door openings, ribs, reveals,

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textures, sandwich (insulation built-in), sculptured, etc.

4. Methods of Attachment of Precast Concrete Members:

A. Weld Plates

The most common method of attachment of precast members is by use of steel weld plates.
Typically, the precast members have embedded plates that can be used as welding surfaces for
loose connecting plates or angles (see below):

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B. Rebar and Grout

Used typically with slabs, reinforcing bars are spliced into slabs and grouted in place (see below):

Last updated: Feb. 15, 2007

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