Engineers' Frame Preference: Concrete vs. Steel
Engineers' Frame Preference: Concrete vs. Steel
STEEL
CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Frame structure are the structure having the composite of beam, column and slab to resist
the lateral and gravity loads of a building. Frames are usually used to overcome the large
moments developing due to the appertained loading. The essential factor in a framed building is
the frame’s strength. Frames can consist of reinforced concrete and steel structure, which are the
most common materials in large contemporary structures and both strongly hold and defy the
Concrete’s versatility, durability, sustainability, and economy have made it as one of the
most widely used modern building materials. Concrete is an “artificial stone” building material
made from a mixture of broken stone or gravel, sand, cement, and water, that can be spread or
poured into molds and that forms a stone-like mass on hardening (Reinforced Concrete Frame
Construction, n.d.). The name concrete comes from Latin “concretus”, which means to grow
together. Fresh concrete can be formed into lots of shape, which has an advantage over other
building materials. Throughout history, Concrete has been used for construction and building
purposes. The Romans originated the concrete that we are using today, they construct plenty of
structures made out of concrete, and one example is the Pantheon in Rome, one of the finest
Roman architecture that remain alive up to this day, this building has a 42-meter-diameter made
out of poured concrete (Madseu, n.d). After the development of Portland cement in 19th century,
concrete became very popular, in spite of that, its restricted tension resistance prohibits its wide
use in building construction. To overcome this weakness, steel bars are inserted in the concrete
The history of steel as a structural material within our culture begins with the use of cast
iron. England was the first to use a Cast Iron to build bridges. In 1840, Cast iron has been
replaced by Wrought iron as a preferred structural material. The cold roll process was created in
1780 to create “S” and “I” shape steel. The Bessemer in 1855 process was created structural steel
that was ductile with fewer impurities. The Chinese of the Warring States period (403-221 BC)
had quench-hardened steel, while Chinese in the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) created steel
by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, gaining an ultimate product of a carbon-
intermediate steel by the 1st century AD. One of the earliest forms of steel, blister steel, began
production in Germany and England in the 17th century and was produced by increasing the
carbon content in molten pig iron using a process known as cementation. In this system, bars of
wrought iron were layered with powdered charcoal in the stone boxes and heated. It is used
extensively as a fabricating material and as a structural. It was at this point that steel became
widely used as a structural element in building construction. Experts acknowledge that steel can
soften and melt with exposure to extremely high temperatures. However, with the addition of
passive fire protection, such as spray-on fire proofing, buildings built a structural steel can
Frames (whether concrete or steel) are one of the first to be done in a construction of a
building. Frames served as the skeleton of a building, without this, a building will not be strong
to stand on its own. This is also a foundation of a building, where columns, walls, ceiling and
other building parts are aligned with them to add more strength and to make the building erected.
Either of the two, concrete and steel frame, can be used to construct a building. Each has its own
Concrete frames is one of the most common types of building material because of its
durability. However, concrete frames are not made from concrete alone. It should include
concrete steel bars which is called reinforcement steel bars. A concrete with reinforcement bars
is called reinforced concrete. Concrete is easy to place, in addition, it has great durability; and it
is inexpensive, while reinforcement bars come up with great strength through tension (Yakut,
n.d).
projects. One reason that steel is becoming a prominent building material because it is faster to
build. The important characteristic of steel framing is its flexibility. Another great advantage of
steel is it can bend without cracking. Third, characteristic of steel framing is plasticity or
ductility. This means that when it is put through great pressure, it will not immediately crack like
medical, education, and other buildings has a motive of bringing people inside. The objective is
to keep the casualties comfortable and safe while keeping the cost associated and the low
maintenance of the building. Both construction materials has advantages and disadvantages.
In this study, we found out the characteristics of concrete and steel frames in terms of its
scheduling, design possibilities, life-span and its environmental impact consideration to evaluate
which is the better building frame in lined with their specific characteristics. There are no past
studies regarding the comparison of concrete and steel frame, however, there are some studies
This study aimed to determine the building frame preference based on the different
features of the structural building frames particularly the comparison between concrete and steel.
2. What type of building frame is preferred by the respondents in terms of the following
b.) safety;
h.) life-span?
3. What is the overall preference of structural building frames among the respondents?
Profile
INPUT Building frame preference of respondents
Floating of questionnaires
PROCESS Documentation
Data Analysis and Interpretations
As denoted in the figure, the researchers will interview licensed engineers and architects
to gain relevant information about the strengths of the materials, safety, cost effectiveness,
consideration of concrete and steel frames. It will be guided by the questions provided by the
researchers.
This study was conducted in the year 2017 and it focused in the different features of
structural building frames, and its advantages and disadvantages. Selected Engineers and
Architects will be invited to participate in this study, they are the skilled personnel who can help
The findings of this study will gave benefit to society considering that structural
engineering plays an important role in constructing buildings. The greater information gathered
for concrete and steel framing background justifies the need for more effective and life-changing
structural processes.
Engineers may apply the recommended structure of building frames derived from the
results of this study will be able to give better ideas for those who seek.
For the researchers, the study will helped them uncover critical areas in the structural
Consumers, who are to choose the type of frame for their building.
Thus, a new theory on concrete and steel framing may be arrived at.
Blister steel refers to crude steel formerly formed from wrought iron by cementation.
Cast iron refers to a hard, relatively brittle alloy of iron and carbon that can be readily
Cement refers to a powdery substance made with calcined lime and clay. It is mixed with
water to form mortar or mixed with sand, gravel, and water to make concrete.
Concrete refers to an artificial, stone like material used for various structural purposes,
made by mixing cement and various aggregates, as sand, pebbles, gravel, or shale, with water
Ductility is a solid material’s ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often
Frame (construction) is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and
shape.
Reinforcement concrete is a concrete in which wire mesh or steel bars are embedded to
Reinforcement steel is a steel bar or mesh of steel wires used as a tension device in
reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and hold the concrete in
tension.
Steel refers to a hard, strong, gray or bluish-gray alloy of iron with carbon and usually
activities.
CHAPTER 2
The population of the people in the Earth is increasing, and as the years pass by, houses
are also constructed to use as their shelter. Engineers and architects are challenge to build high-
rise and tall buildings worldwide to conserve spaces. High-rise and tall buildings are not easy to
build, so, architects and engineers come up with the study on what building frames to be use.
Some of these advancements included the emergence of glass- metal curtain wall facades and the
compressive strength of concrete. Building frames serves as the foundation of all buildings and it
must be strong enough and solid to keep the people safe when there are calamities. The trend in
the progression of the steel and concrete for its higher strength is not stopping and the use of new
material with higher performance and higher sustainability has an increasing important
momentum.
Fig.1. Shows the concrete building of JVD Building of Saint Mary’s University
In constructing a building, the contractual engineers and architects must consider the
better material for its structure. Frames are very important because it is serves as the foundation
of the construction.
The heavy weight nature of concrete construction shows greater opportunities to apply
passive heating and cooling in buildings. To completely employ the opportunities, people’s
preconceptions about the building floor-to-floor sandwich need to be alter, to maximize surface
area available for heat exchange, exposed, profiled structural soffits will be required combined
with cladding systems which control ventilation and the direction air flow. The light nature of
steel construction and profusion of downstand beams makes it less attractive in passive building
design, or where little or no ceiling void is to be provided. Foundations for concrete buildings are
significantly larger than for steel buildings. This can be a critical factor in foundation type
selection and economy. Steel framed buildings are as much as 30 percent lighter than
comparable concrete buildings. Because of poor soil conditions only steel-framed buildings can
Dabhade et al. (2009) stated that the total cost of project is divided into four major parts
of construction activities such as, foundation, column, beam and slabs construction. It is
observed that for the steel frame with the combination of floor building and steel frame with
precast concrete floor structure, the minimum material cost is associated with beams and material
while maximum construction cost with erection of post- tensioned beam. The produced cost
comparison study for commercial buildings proves that structural steel framing solutions are
faster to build and more cost effective than reinforced concrete alternatives.
Large and clear spans allow constructing of buildings almost any type and/or business
comfortably and effectively, as well as to expand in future and change their setup whenever they
covet. Structures with long span need to be cautiously designed keeping a balance of all the
aspects like its weight, deflections (sway) and also foundation forces. Steel is the basic material
that is used in the materials that are used for Pre-engineered steel building. Saving of material on
low stress area of the primary framing members makes Pre-engineered buildings more
economical than Conventional steel buildings especially for low rise buildings spanning (Hutagi
et al. 2013). The support reactions for structures relate to the restraint conditions against linear
and rotational movement. Every structural element and structure must be supported in order to
transfer the applied loading to the foundations where it is dissipated through the ground
(McKenzie, n.d.).
2.3 SYNTHESIS
To sum it up, the entire chapter provides definition, processes, issues and concepts
pertaining to the analysis of structural building frames between concrete and steel which had
assist the researchers to better understand the present study. Related literatures were used in
designing the whole process of the conduct of the study. Different specified related concepts and
theories were used as justification to the urgent need to conduct such study since there are other
In addition, related studies have also uncover different conclusions from their respective
findings.
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
of specific events experienced by individuals, and to determine the relationship between a thing
and another, especially this research is comparing two types of structural building frames.
determine the strength in gaining knowledge and providing insights to develop ideas specifically
to the analysis on the structural building frames: concrete and steel. The study also involved a
discussion between the respondents and the researchers which regards to some clarifications on
evaluation.
The research study was conducted at Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela. It includes descriptive
The respondents of this study are the licensed engineers and licensed architects who are
In this study, there are two item-type questionnaires provided which are (a) profile of the
respondents and (b) dichotomous type of questionnaire that includes the different features of the
structural building frame. The questionnaire provided is a self-made by the researchers but it is
based on the articles about the different features of building and is a content validated by the
research coordinator. It will be given to the licensed engineers and licensed architects who are
experts in the said field. It can be an effective means of evaluating opinions and intensions of
relativity large numbers of subjects. Also, in processing of gathered data and to determine
For this study, the researchers conducted a research to gather the needed data.
Researchers interviewed licensed engineers and licensed architects. The study that was
Researchers presented, analyzed and interpreted the data gathered using the IBM SPSS
Statistics in this study. The results were analyzed with corresponding discussions and
explanations and includes the frequency and percent distribution. It also answer specific
CHAPTER 4
This study aimed to find out the building frame preferences according to the features
stated and the perceived advantages and disadvantages among selected engineers and architects.
In this chapter, researchers were able to presents the data collected from the respondents. They
were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics and interpreted in response to the problem
Table 1 shows the field of specialization, the architect and the engineer. It is presented in
the table that the engineer has a high percentage of respondents, because architects are hard to
find.
Table 2 shows the number of years in the profession of the specific field. To determine
Table 3 shows the number of buildings accomplished by the engineers and architects.
This was provided to evaluate the skills and experiences of the respondents in their chosen
profession.
presents that engineers and architects choose the concrete as their preferred building frames in
terms of the strength and safety features. As this building frame can withstand high temperature,
fire-safe due to its noncombustible nature and can pass toughness of the different phenomenon
such as typhoons, earthquake, flood and others. On the other hand, steel strength is reduced
Table 5
shows that most of the engineers and architects preferred concrete building frame in terms of the
material availability for it is easy to find and can be avail easily in most of the places.
Environmental Impact
Table 6. Preferred
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Features Percent Percent of
concrete 3 21.4 21.4 21.4
Building Frames in
Valid steel 11 78.6 78.6 100.0
Terms of Total 14 100.0 100.0
Environmental Impact
As shown in the Table 6, steel is the preferred building frame of the engineers and
architects in terms of the feature which is the environmental impact. It is because, steel is
extremely eco-friendly as they can be recycled and don’t leave much of waste behind during and
after construction.
Cost effectiveness
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
concrete 5 35.7 35.7 35.7
Valid steel 9 64.3 64.3 100.0
Total 14 100.0 100.0
Table 7 presents that engineers and architects prefer to use concrete building frame for it
has low maintenance cost while steel’s cost of forms used for casting is relatively higher.
Construction Scheduling
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
concrete 2 14.3 14.3 14.3
Valid steel 12 85.7 85.7 100.0
Total 14 100.0 100.0
As displays in Table 8, engineers and architects preferred the steel building frame for the
construction scheduling because it is a time saver for this building frame is easier to build for a
Design Possibilities
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
concrete 6 42.9 42.9 42.9
Valid steel 8 57.1 57.1 100.0
Total 14 100.0 100.0
Table 9 presents that steel is the preferred building frame of the engineers and architects
in terms of the features’ design possibilities. Steel is very elastic and can be fabricated in large
sections, very effective in taking tensile stresses, installation is easier and it is pest/insect
resistant.
Life-span
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
concrete 10 71.4 71.4 71.4
Valid steel 4 28.6 28.6 100.0
Total 14 100.0 100.0
Table 10 shows that the preferred features of building frame of the engineers and
architects in terms of life-span is the concrete. For this building can last longer because it has
high compressive strength, less deflection, and has a very high durability.
Table 11. The Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Concrete Building Frame
As can be seen in the table above, these are the advantages and disadvantages of a
concrete building frame perceived by the selected engineers and architects in Nueva Vizcaya and
Isabela.
Table 12. The Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of Steel Building Frame
Table 12 presents the advantages and disadvantages of a steel building frame perceived
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY
Today there are two dominant building construction materials— steel and concrete. They
Concrete provides a solid support for the weight of the building and steel can hold taller
structures up. Using time element as the starting point, steel-frame construction helps reduce
construction time with on-site erection of the steel frame. This means less overhead costs during
project construction. For high-rise buildings the time gain can be considerable.
Steel members can be assembled in factories providing better quality control whereas
pouring of on-site concrete is subject to labor- intensive systems that may affect quality.
Structural steel frames can provide longer spans, thus offering column-free spaces and flexibility
in space planning. Steel may be recycled in its original or near- original state while concrete can
Today’s buildings in Asia are also adopting similar measures for protection from seismic
Reinforced concrete resists high temperature from fire for long time without loss of
structural integrity. The design possibilities are almost limitless. It can take on many unique
CONCLUSIONS
Choosing a construction material for a building is a dilemma for any designer. The right
decision can have a positive or negative impact on the success of a project in terms of strength
scheduling, design possibilities, life span and their overall quality. Today, two of the most
dominant building materials are concrete and steel. The researchers, together with the help of
architects and engineers in Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela province, were able to acquire the data
needed, to determine the best material for building. Moreover, concrete building frame is the
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the results and findings of this study, the researchers humbly recommend the
following:
4. Budget allocation for the project and check for any financial constraints.
5. Further research that will support this study and satisfy the delimitations mentioned in the
study.
REFERENCES
Ahmed, M., Alashkar, Y. & Nazar, S. (2015). A comparative study of seismic strengthening of rc
building by steel bracings and concrete shear walls. International Journal of Civil and
Structural Engineering Research, 2(2), pp. 24-34.
Aniket, R.V. & Yogesh, S. (2016, July). Comparative study on analysis and cost of r.c.c. and
steel composite structure. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), 5(7).
Carson Conrete, (n.d.). The components and characteristics of a concrete frame. Retrieved from
[Link]
steel/viewall/true
Dabhade, U.D. et al. (2009). Time and cost evaluation of construction of steel framed composite
floor with precast concrete floor structure. 26th International Symposium on Automation
and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2009).
Hutagi, A., Kulkarni, A.V. & Zende, A.A. (2013). Comparative study of analysis and design of
pre-engineered-buildings and conventional frames. Journal of Mechanical and Civil
Engineering, 5(1), pp. 32-43.
James Ware Construction Inc., (n.d.) Retrieved from [Link]
history-of steel-buildings/
Khan, L. & Tudor, K. (n.d.). Concrete vs. steel frame considerations. Retrieved from
[Link]>fall>images>PDFs
Mills, A. (2010). Analysis of the cost performance of structural building frames in Australia, in
proceedings of the 7th ICEC World Congress & 14th PAQS Congress: Sustainable cost
management: Borderless innovation. Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers,
Singapore, pp. 1-15.
Shaikh, A.N. & Tanaji, B.A. (2015). Analysis of reinforced concrete building with different
arrangement of concrete and steel bracing system. Journal of Mechanical and Civil,
12(5), pp.8-12. Doi: 10.9790/1684-12550812
Steel frame structures, (n.d.) Retrieved from [Link]
[Link]
Yakut, A.(n.d.).Reinforced concrete frame construction. Middle East Technical University:
Turkey. Retrieved from [Link]
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE
2. Material availability
(Which of these materials (reinforced concrete-steel) is easier to
find depending on place where the building is built?)
3. Environmental impact
(For example, there will be a construction in a barangay with a lot
of residents, upon constructing the building which of the two
structural building frames must be used to lessen the harmful
effect on the residents?)
4. Cost effectiveness
(Imagine that you will build a two building with the same design,
you will use concrete on the first and steel on the second building,
which of the following structural frames will cost more?)
5. Construction Scheduling
(Which is easier to build? Which of the following structural
frames can be done with a short period of time?)
6. Design Possibilities
(An Architect designed a house with a complicated design
because her client wants to have a unique house structure, which
of the following structural building frames is easier to mold into
different designs?)
7. Life-span
(Which of two structural building frames can last longer?)
2. Give your own perception on the advantages and disadvantages of the two structural
building frames.
CONCRETE
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
STEEL
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
November 2017
Sir/ Madam:
Marian Greetings!
In partial fulfillment of our requirement in Practical Research 2, we, the students from
STEM 12-I are having a research entitled “Structural Building Frame Preference Of Engineers
and Architects In Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela: Concrete vs. Steel”.
In relation to this, we are humbly asking for your kind cooperation to answer the given
questions provided in the questionnaire.
We are thankful for your participation and sincere cooperation regarding this matter.
God Bless!
Respectfully yours,
De Gracia, Ivan Jasper Mann P.
Marana, Marjorie Ann B.
Matias, Lorraine Grace L.
Morallos, Mark Joshua F.
Ventura, Jesson C.
Noted by:
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Age: 17
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Age: 17
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT’
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Age: 17
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Age: 17
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
CURRICULUM VITAE
Jesson C. Ventura
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Age: 17
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT