Designing for Temperature Expansion/Contraction

[333OnlyHalfEvil]

Hello everyone:

Is designing for temperature expansion/contraction something everyone is worried about every project? Like, do you sit there and think through every member and every piece and calc how much it's going to expand/contract and make sure all the clearances are right? Is that overkill and you just have it in the notes? It is something that is done on some projects but not on others? Can you comment on this if you have info on it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[rowingengineer]

Some judgement is required, mostly you care about overall buildings sizes and layouts but does come down to specifics for detailing.

There are lots of references depend on concrete steel.

https://www.nap.edu/read/9801/chapter/3

http://www.nceng.com.au/

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[HTURKAK]

Temperature effects may be ignored in building type structures whose lateral dimension does not exceed 40m and the frames are not substantially restrained by shear walls or braced bays..

ACI 318 -14 R5.3.6 states '.......Forces due to T effects are not commonly calculated and combined with other load effects. Rather, designs rely on successful past practices'

 

[r13]

Factors for the inclusion of temperature effect in design:

1. Size effect as mentioned above by others.
2. Type of structure - usually relatively narrow in width, long in length structures that exposed to the open environment, such as bridges and pipe racks.

 

[STrctPono]

I can't answer this question for buildings.

For exterior civil projects: Concrete pavement, retaining walls, bridges, culverts, etc.... absolutely you think about it for every project.

Projects like pavement and retaining walls is more about "rules of thumb" when incorporating proper contraction/expansion joints and how you go about detailing them to mitigate problems. After awhile, you know what works based on old projects and what your companies standard of practice is. No, I don't run calculations for those.

Larger bridge projects can very much be controlled by thermal expansion/contraction. i.e. this can dictate where you place your fixed piers and where you place your expansion piers. Yes, you would need to run "the calcs" and a thermal analysis on these type of structures to be able to properly size your joints and to know how much load is going to your fixed piers. Bridge joints are typically the Achilles heel in the service life of a bridge. I am lucky enough to live in an area where we may see a total temperature swing of 30 degrees from summer to winter. This works to our benefit as we are able to design many joint-less bridges. Many with integral abutments.... which would not be possible in many regions of the country.

 

[Tomfh]

Not generally for ordinary building elements, unless the member is long and restrained.

Things like masonry walls have rules of thumbs for jointing.

 

[IRstuff]

At the contractor level, it is a concern; we just had wood flooring installed, and the installer went through some hoops to ensure that the floor wouldn't pop or buckle due to temperature changes, and made sure that the wood was acclimated to the installation environment.

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[Tomfh]

Yes wood floors are an issue (as are many continuous finishes). I've seen wood floors buckle. Really ugly.

 

[r13]

I think moisture is the more critical cause for wood floor to buckle/popup. The floor must have completely dried before installation.