Impact of Heterogeneous Soil Conditions on the Life Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Storey Reinforced Concrete Structure

Abstract

This article discusses the design of reinforced concrete structures taking into account non-uniform soil conditions, as well as aspects of sustainable engineering. To achieve this, the soil-structure interaction was explicitly introduced into the numerical model of the investigated structure which meets serviceability and the ultimate limit state conditions defined in the relevant Eurocode standards. In the numerical experiment, non-uniform soil conditions, type of foundation (isolated footing, foundation plate), material parameters and size of the cross section of the elements (columns and beams) were analysed. The introduced heterogeneous soil profiles, determined by defining a parametrised, in terms of mechanical properties, spatial model of the layered soil, resulted in nonuniform settlement of the investigated structure. A global analysis of the three-dimensional reinforced concrete structure was carried out taking into account geometric nonlinearity with imperfections and material nonlinearity with creep. The displacement maps of the structure and the risk of collapse due to nonuniform settlement were established. Furthermore, an environmental so called life cycle assessment was performed for each variant analysed of the investigated structure. The innovative nature of the research is based on a joint approach to the problem of soil-structure interaction and the assessment of the carbon footprint of reinforced concrete buildings. This made it possible to determine how the varying soil conditions and different types of foundation affect the amount of material consumed and the carbon footprint associated with the production of reinforced concrete structures.