Composite elements >

A compound shape column is a vertical element having a cross section composed of a number of rectangles one of which is considered to be a shear wall i.e. has a length to thickness ratio ≥ 4. The simplest compound column is the rectangular shear wall such as the wall G1 shown below.

From a structural point of view, G1 is composed by the shear wall Sh1 which has a section equal to 2000/250.
From a reinforcement point of view, shear wall G1 is composed of the hidden (boundary) columns a0-1 and a1-0 with 250/450 section and the shear wall’s main body Sh1 with a section of 2000/250 (including the length of the two boundary columns).

The G1 reinforcement consists of the clearly defined reinforcement of the three members that comprise the compound element, the two orthogonal columns and the shear wall’s main body.

The ‘L’ section element G2-3 is a compound element consisting of two orthogonal legs.
From a structural point of view, element G2-3 is composed of the column C2 which has a 250/700 section and the shear wall Sh3 with length and thickness equal to 1500 mm and 250 mm respectively.

From a reinforcement point of view, the G2-3 consists of two boundary (hidden) columns: the 450/700/250/250 ‘L’ section column, the rectangular column a3-0 with a cross section of 250/450 and the shear wall’s main body Sh3 with a section equal to 1500/250.

The ‘L’ section element G1-2 is a compound element that consists of two members.

From a reinforcement point of view, the G1-2 consists of three boundary (hidden) columns: the 450/450/250/250 ‘L’ section column a1-2, the rectangular column a1-0 with a cross section of 250/450, the 450/250 rectangular column a2-0 and the shear walls’ main bodies Sh1 and Sh2 with sections equal to 250/1200 and 1500/250 respectively.

The reinforcement of G1-2 consists of the clearly defined reinforcement of the five members that constitute the composite element, the three columns and the two shear wall main bodies.