Conservation compendium. Part 11: A career in ruins (challenges presented by derelict structures)

The yield-line method of analysis provides a powerful means of identifying the ultimate load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete slabs. Benefits of the yield-line method are that it will often identify additional reserves of strength when applied to the analysis of existing slabs, and to highly economic slabs when used in design. Traditionally a hand-based method, the yield-line method is easy to apply to problems involving simple slab geometries and loading regimes. However, when these become more complex it can be difficult to identify the critical yield-line pattern. To address this, the method has now been systematically automated. The automated method quickly identifies the critical mechanism (or a close approximation of this) and corresponding load-carrying capacity, providing engineers with a powerful new computer-based tool for the analysis and design of concrete slabs. In this article, the discontinuity layout optimisation (DLO) procedure which has been used to automate the yield-line method is briefly described and then applied to various example problems.

This article provides further information on the manufacture, detailing and erection of CLT constructions.

This article sets out typical structural issues encountered when dealing with churches and places of worship.