SEN769 – Advanced Structural Design

Composite Design Project

Assessment task 1 - Concept Report Brief

1. Introduction:
The Design Project is intended to provide a realistic design project scenario. Students will
form design teams to produce design deliverables of the highest professional quality.
Elements from a multi-storey composite building are required to be designed. The project is
planned on an 87,000 sqm plot area in the inner city, while the total built-up area is more
than 250,000 sqm. The project comprised a car park, shopping mall, furniture market, food
market, cafe and restaurants, machines room and services. The shopping mall is of ground +
2 storey and is planned to accommodate a shopping area, hypermarket, department store,
food court, and playground, while its total build-up area is 104,103 sqm.
The developer approved a complete set of architectural drawings and made them available
to the structural design team. The building must be constructed in Australia, adhere to
Australian Design Standards and be built from standard Australian materials. Each student
must complete the structural analysis and concept design of the allocated composite slab panel
and composite beam from the assigned floor of a multi‐storey building. The Design Project will
include group and individual components and deliverables.

2. Description:
In this team assignment, students must apply their understanding of material properties,
structural stability, and equilibrium to develop a design concept for a composite structure.
Students will be supplied with an architectural drawing and create a structural system that
supports the applied loading. The concept report will have two components. The first
component will summarise the concept design proposal and demonstrate how the design
will meet the required criteria and defined targets. This report will identify the project scope,
inputs, constraints, detailed loads, critical elements, design methodology, concept sketches
and a team management plan. The second component will include structural analysis of the
selected structure and identification of load actions in the structural elements. In the
following assignment, you will design these elements (assessment task 2-composite design
report).

3. General Instruction:
• Form your group of five students and nominate a group coordinator during the O-week
and first week. The group coordinator will organise the group activities, discussions,
report submissions and communicate with the unit chair on behalf of the group. In each
communication, all group members shall be copied and updated.
• Architectural drawings of the building have been provided, showing all dimensions (in
meters and millimetres) and space allocations. Note that these drawings show no
structural elements or force- resisting members. Lines indicate the boundaries of each
space, allowing for sufficient circulation zones. It is your task as the structural engineer
(the designer) to recommend the location, type, and details of the structural elements of
the building. You may assume the required dimensions in each floor level; however, all
assumptions must be verified by the final design outcomes.
• Start by laying out a suitable steel frame for the allocated building floor. Floor frames
typically consist of composite slabs and steel beams supported by columns and walls. The
composite slabs consist of concrete floor on steel decking, while the composite beams consist
of composite slab components and steel beams. Try to use typical dimensions for the
members and frame bays. Use the labelled grid and label all structural elements, such as
primary beams, secondary beams, and columns, using a unique code for each member
of each type, i.e., for secondary beams, use SB1, SB2, etc. For columns, use C1, C2, etc.
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SEN769 – Advanced Structural Design

Composite Design Project

Assessment task 1 - Concept Report Brief

• Introduce a grid of primary steel beams supported on columns. Then, introduce a series
of secondary beams in the shorter span supported by primary beams at each end. The
secondary beam will act individually during construction while behaving compositely
with the concrete slab during the service stage. The primary beam will continue as a
single-section steel beam throughout the construction and service stages.
• Your task covers the composite slabs and secondary composite beams only. The primary
steel beam is out of the project scope.
• Calculate the construction stage loading and check the secondary steel beam and
decking capacity.
• Calculate loading for the service stage, including dead load (self-weight and imposed
dead load) and a live load suitable for space use. Implement the load combination.
• Each student is to select one slab panel only (composite slab) supported by the
secondary beams in one direction and treat it as a one-way slab.
• Each student is to select one secondary beam only (composite beam), simply supported
by two primary steel beams.
• Specify the tributary area from the slab to the secondary beam and calculate the beam
loads.
• Plot the BMD and SFD for the secondary beam and calculate the maximum values.
• Material selection shall include four items: steel beam (secondary), concrete slab, steel
decks, and shear connectors. Specify the mechanical properties for your design
calculations.
• Each group will have five students and be allocated a design zone on a specific floor level,
as detailed below.
• Allocate a building location and exposure class (based on AS1170 categories) and use this
information for the concrete's minimum cover and compressive strength.

4. Deliverables:
Assessment 1 is a team task. There are two components to this assessment task.
• Students are required to develop a concept design.
• Students are required to conduct structural analysis.
The written report will have a minimum of 5000 words. It must include concept sketches,
force and moment diagrams for the selected beams, and preliminary calculations. Group
reports will be marked at 30%, while individual marks will be calculated based on team
marks and peer review. The due date for submission is Sunday, 2nd April 2023 (Week 4) @
8:00 pm AEST. One file submission in CloudDeakin is allowed per group.
Students can allocate themselves to a group and nominate a group coordinator during the
Oweek and Week 1. Good use of group time will improve your understanding of the topic
and extend your engineering network. Each Group member will receive the same mark
for the concept report. Therefore, groups must get organised early (Week 1) and embrace
suitable technologies to facilitate regular group meetings and study sessions.
Requests for a change of group may be considered until the end of Week 2 but shall be
submitted in writing to the Unit Chair (email is acceptable) and supported with clear
reasoning. Group-related severe issues, including individual group member performance,
may be considered until the end of Week 3. They shall also be submitted in writing to the
unit chair (email accepted). It would be best to file your contribution in the group task
to support your claim when required by the unit chair.

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SEN769 – Advanced Structural Design

Composite Design Project

Assessment task 1 - Concept Report Brief

5. Concept Report Content:

The concept report shall include the following items.

Item
1. Frontpage
2. Design concept, Assumptions
3. Material selection and properties
4. Loads and Load Combination
5. Floor Plans & Sections
6. Structural analysis software
7. Slab load
8. Beam Structural Analysis
9. Structural Analysis outcomes
Description/detail
Must include the project title and names of all members.
2-3 pages concept report, design parameters & assumptions
Including Material Properties, Exposure Class, Cover, etc.
Covered in Week 1-2 Lecture
Identify all structural elements in the floor, which
elements are designed, and by whom.
If selected, register with the provider for download & training
Calculate the ultimate uniform loading and tributary areas
Using simplified methods or software to calculate BM and V
Complete with load summary sketch, SFD and BMDs

6. Analysis and Conceptual Design:

A structural analysis shall be conducted for the allocated secondary beam for the
concept design report, while only the slab load shall be calculated. The simplified
method of structural analysis can be used for all bending moments and shear force
calculations of the beams in this project.

• Calculate the slab loading as below:

a. Nominate a trial slab thickness and configuration: select deck type and check
properties.
b. Define dead and live loading & critical load combination l. Show on load summary
sketch.
c. Define the tributary area of each supporting beam within your slab boundary.
d. Conclude by identifying the critical load actions for design.

• Conduct a structural analysis of the composite beam as below:

a. Nominate a trial steel beam and combine it with the composite slab.
b. Define dead and live loading & load combination. Show on load summary sketch.
c. You can use structural design software or a simplified conventional method.
d. Calculate the shear force in one beam span per student and plot the SFD.
e. Calculate the bending moments in one beam span per student and plot the BMD.
f. Conclude by identifying the critical load actions for design.

7. Assessment:

All reports shall be concise and shall not include redundant information. Note that
submissions before the due date will be considered "timely" late penalties shall apply
following the faculty and the University guidelines for a late submission. PDF format is
acceptable provided it originated from a word file, i.e., no handwriting or images by the smart
device are permitted. A dropbox has been created in the unit site of CloudDeakin for the
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SEN769 – Advanced Structural Design

Composite Design Project

Assessment task 1 - Concept Report Brief

submission, Turnitin enabled. Ensure that the originality check of your report does not
exceed 20%. Students who use design software in the analysis and design tasks will receive
5% bonus marks for their project. Submit one file only per group.
Present your report in clear, logically sequenced sections that address each element's input,
analysis, design, etc. Include a front page with the project title and the group members.
Also, include a table of contents (TOC) and number all pages. Support your investigations
with diagrams and concise written words to explain your thinking and findings.
The teaching team will convey early feedback and guidance during the regular
seminars/design studios to improve the outcomes of this assessment task. The response to
each group will help prepare Assessment Task 2. Group members will share the same group marks
unless there is disagreement on the contribution level.

8. Project Resources:

The following documents contain essential project-specific information and are available on
Cloud.
• Architectural Drawings
• Project Design Brief
• Project Rubric

9. Team task allocation:

Team Design task in the shopping

No mall building
Floor Zone
1 G A-E, 08-12
2 G A-E, 12-18
3 G A-E, 18-23
4 1 E-J, 08-12
5 1 E-J, 12-18
6 1 E-J, 18-23
7 1 A-E, 08-12
8 G E-J, 08-12
9 1 A-E, 12-18
10 G E-J, 12-18

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