DYNA JOURNAL ENGINEERING

Key words:

Forjados unidireccionales, coste, impacto ambiental, construcción sostenible, hormigón estructural, One-way slab, cost, environmental impact, sustainable construction, structural concrete.

Article type:

ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION / RESEARCH ARTICLE

Section:

RESEARCH ARTICLES

The main objective of this work is the development of a methodology for decision making on the optimal structural typology, to be applied by the different actors involved in a residential construction project, combining performance criteria, cost, and environmental impact. This methodology is based on the knowledge generated from the research based on a deep analysis of information obtained from actual implemented projects, and on the professional experience in the sector. The paper focuses on one-way slabs; the two most commonly used types of one-way slabs in structures are "in situ" slabs and those incorporating prefabricated elements. The application of the methodology is performed on a reference building, incorporating different arrangements of pillars (pillars index) as well as the most common structural solutions. The model developed from the analyzed cases reflects the most frequent deployments in residential construction. A Pareto frontier analysis applied to the results simplifies and facilitates the decision, reducing the alternatives to only those that have some advantageous condition against all others. The results obtained allow determining optimal solutions, balanced in cost, performance and CO2 emissions, for three different structural types, depending on the mentioned Pillars Index. The results constitute therefore a useful and practical tool which is an important aid to project designers from the initial stages; it also offers flexibility, allowing the updating of variables to consider. The incorporation of the pillars index as a characterization element allows the research to be perfectly applied to actual professional situations. In this way the designer and promoter can systematize the decisions about the type of slab to select taking into account as variables: structural rigidity, price, and environmental impact.