Introduction to the course “Construction Structures”

The history of the development of building structures is closely connected with the development of the productive forces of society.

Earlier others began to apply stone structures. The first structures of raw natural stones, erected with primitive tools, belong to the Stone Age. In the future, in connection with the improvement of the means of production, hewn natural stone, raw brick and burnt brick began to be used for stone constructions.

In the slave and feudal periods of the development of society, stone constructions achieved high perfection. From that time, a large number of outstanding monuments of stone architecture.

For centuries, brick was the most important raw material in construction.

Stone structures have not lost their value in our time, they are easy to manufacture, have great durability and fire resistance.

In the 1930s, the work of Soviet construction scientists scientifically substantiated the strength and deformability of stone structures, created new types of artificial stones, introduced reinforcement of brick masonry, which made it possible to achieve substantial savings in materials.

However, the construction of stone structures directly on the construction site is associated with significant labor costs. In order to industrialize the construction of the walls of the foundations, currently used large blocks and prefabricated panels.

Building wooden structures were used along with stone structures. Later, “chopped” wooden structures (log houses) were used to build houses and fortress walls. Outstanding examples of Russian folk architecture, chopped fortifications and churches were created in the 12th and 18th centuries, in Moscow, Kiev, Novgorod and many other cities.

In the 18-19 centuries. Wood was widely used for perennial structures and structures: dams, locks, bridges, and public buildings.

In our country, in the period of the first five-year plans and the Great Patriotic War, wooden structures were used everywhere, and their constructive forms were intensively developed: new types of planar spatial structures were created, as well as new types of connections.

In modern conditions, the most perfect wooden structures are glued, factory made. Despite the relatively high strength, easy workability, low weight and other positive qualities of wooden structures, their distribution is limited due to susceptibility of wood to rotting and fire, as well as the need to save wood - a valuable raw material for other sectors of the national economy.

Metal in building structures from the beginning of the 12th century was used for bonding and pulling stone structures, the appearance of independent supporting metal structures dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The main metal for them at that time was cast iron.

The development of capitalism led to the massive construction of railways, bridges, as well as industrial buildings and structures, which led to the proliferation and significant improvement of metal structures.

Iron was replaced by wrought iron, which later gave way to steel. The release of the rolled products made it possible to create a rational section of the elements, and the appearance of the rivets and, after welding, convenient nodal joints. All that led to the widespread use of metal structures in the construction of large-span bridges, frameworks of workshops, as well as a variety of unique buildings.

Russia conducts systematic scientific research in the field of metal structures, which ensured the improvement of constructive forms and construction technology, as well as the creation of scientifically based methods for their calculation.

Due to the high strength of the material, metal constructions have a relatively low net weight. They can be manufactured in high-performance factories, and their installation is carried out relatively quickly, with low labor costs.

However, due to the metal's exposure to corrosion, it is often necessary to renew their protective coloration, which causes additional operating costs.

In modern construction, metal structures are used in structures with large spans and heights and in special structures (masts, towers, tanks, etc.), where they are more cost-effective than wood structures. The simplest steel structures - beams, columns, trusses are expedient in the construction of individual objects of non-standard construction, in constructing work sites for servicing technological equipment, in renovating existing buildings and structures.

Further improvement of metal structures is associated with the introduction of high-strength steels, light aluminum alloys, new types of profiles and welding methods, prestressing of structures.

The emergence of reinforced concrete structures refers to the period 1850-1885gg. They appeared approximately simultaneously in several developed countries (England, Germany, France, USA), where they had already made cement and rolled metal long before. The widespread practical use of reinforced concrete structures in construction falls to the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. In Russia, even before 1917, a large number of industrial buildings, tanks, bridges, overpasses, etc., were erected from reinforced concrete.

In the Soviet period, reinforced concrete structures at the beginning were used in hydraulic engineering and industrial, and then in civil engineering. Many frame, arched, continuous beam structures, and many others were built from monolithic reinforced concrete. During the first five-year plans, prefabricated reinforced concrete structures were widely used in the construction of industrial facilities.

The enormous scale of construction after World War II required the introduction of industrial methods for the erection of buildings and structures using prefabricated elements of factory production. A new branch of the national economy was created - the precast concrete industry, which became the basis of modern capital construction.

Since then, it has continuously progressed. The use of reinforced concrete has significantly expanded, especially in the mass construction of residential and civil buildings and industrial facilities of new industries (chemical enterprises, nuclear plants, etc.)

Reinforced concrete structures occupy a leading place in construction, as they have high strength, durability, fire resistance.

Russian scientists conducted extensive research in the field of reinforced concrete, which allowed the creation of progressive methods for calculating structures that are now recognized throughout the world.