The most common methods of constructing buildings around the world are three methods of building with building materials, building with a metal frame and building with a concrete frame. Frameless structures are usually used in buildings with a small area and height that are not of great importance. In Iran, steel structures used to be more popular, but today, due to the recognition of the advantages of concrete structures, this type of skeleton has found a very good position in the construction industry.
Concrete or Metal Structures?
concrete structure
As the name of this structure suggests, concrete structure is a structure whose skeleton is made of reinforced concrete; Be informed that reinforced concrete consists of cement, gravel, sand and steel, planting rebar or ribs. It should be noted that concrete skeletons are usually designed for life; This means that every concrete structure design engineer designs this type of structure for a certain life. For example, a concrete structure may be designed for a lifespan of 60 years.
Metal structure
On the other hand, a metal structure is similar to a concrete structure, as As its name suggests, it consists of metal materials such as rebars, beams, corners, studs, main and secondary beams, column cans, various connections, bolts and nuts, etc. These instruments usually have less weight.
Benefits of Concrete skeleton over metal
If the speed of finishing the project is a priority for us, the metal structure is a more suitable option than the concrete structure; Because the concrete frame must be built floor by floor and the time required for molding, piling and initial setting of the concrete must be taken into account. This is despite the fact that in the metal frame, it is possible to run all the floors simultaneously. Even if a prefabricated metal frame is prepared from the factory and assembled at the project site, the execution speed will be faster than normal. Concrete has the possibility of molding the rebar in different ways, resistance to all types of weather, more fire resistance compared to the concrete frame, lower implementation cost and easier access to materials.
Also, one of the important advantages of metal structures is the possibility of developing the structure after operation, which means that if the employer or the owners of the building structure want to add a floor to the building, the steel structure has the important ability to connect the column to the already implemented columns. He developed the structure by screwing or welding and connecting beams, etc.
Another issue is the limitations of implementing concrete structures in cold and hot weather conditions, which slows down the execution speed and even stops the work in some cases. It means that the metal structure is exempted from these restrictions.