A building structure is typically constructed floor by floor in the case of a reinforced concrete structure or often constructed several floors at a time in the case of a structural steel structure. Even on the same floor, different parts are constructed at different stages.
A typical structural analysis entails applying the loads to the completed structure at once. This results in significant discrepancies as the scale of the building increase, especially as the number of stories increases. Regardless of the type of construction, construction dead loads on a particular floor are typically acting on the structure without the presence of the upper floors during the construction. This actually results in completely different column shortenings from the analysis results based on the “full loading on the completed structure”. The change of strength gain, creep and shrinkage in the case of reinforced concrete construction compound the discrepancies. MIDAS/Gen enables the engineer to account for the change of geometries and time-dependent material properties during and after the construction.
Each temporary structure at a particular stage of construction affects the subsequent stages. Also, it is not uncommon to install and dismantle temporary supports during construction. The structure constantly changes or evolves as the construction progresses with varying material properties such as modulus of elasticity and compressive strength due to different maturities among contiguous members. The structural behaviors such as deflections and stress re-distribution continue to change during and after the construction due to varying time-dependent properties.
Since the structural configuration continuously changes with different loadings and support conditions, and each construction stage affects the subsequent stages, the design of certain structural components may be even governed during the construction. Without such construction stage analysis, the conventional analysis will not be reliable.
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