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Corinthians Arena - Structural Concrete
Corinthians Arena - Structural Concrete
Corinthians Arena –
2014 World Cup, design and construction
This paper describes the design and construction of the concrete
structures of the Corinthians Arena built for the 2014 World Cup.
Due to many constraints, the structure was designed, essentially,
with prefabricated structural concrete members, some specific
elements were designed with structural concrete cast in situ, and
some areas, with special construction problems, were designed
with composite steel–concrete structures.
Keywords: arena, precast concrete, design, construction, vibration,
connections
1 Introduction
698 © 2016 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin · Structural Concrete 17 (2016), No. 5
F. Stucchi/M. Coelho Ungaretti/G. Fujii/H. Corres Peiretti/S. Doniak/J. Soriano Martin · Corinthians Arena – 2014 World Cup, design and construction
Fig. 5. Pile driving Fig. 7. Cast in situ pile caps
with the main constraints of cost and time. Furthermore, 3 Foundations and retaining walls
in order to meet all the FIFA requirements, several meet-
ings were necessary to satisfy all parties involved in the According to the geotechnical conditions, it was decided
project: contractor, structural designers, architects and, of that the best solution for foundations consisted of precast
course, the final client: Sports Club Corinthians Paulista. driven piles (Fig. 5). Precast piles of ∅ 0.50 m and
The structure below the roof level is made mainly of ∅ 0.70 m diameter were used to support vertical loads of
structural concrete. Practically 80 % of this structure is 1500 kN and 2500 kN, respectively. In some cases, for
precast whereas the remaining parts are cast in situ or example when a tension support is necessary, other types
made of composite elements, with steel girders and top of excavated piles were applied. More than 4,000 founda-
concrete slabs. Composite construction was used only tion piles were executed with a total length of 55,500 m
when construction conditions prevented a concrete solu- over a period of six months (the initial estimate was nine
tion (for example, when architectural design demanded months).
longer spans without columns). The roof consists of a The foundation system comprises not only vertical
membrane supported by a steel structure. The facades piles, as can be seen in Fig. 6, but also inclined piles that
were designed as important characteristics of this arena. were placed in order to support horizontal forces. These
Fig. 6. Foundation layout of core piles (arrows indicate inclined piles according to the respective orientation)
Fig. 8. Plan view and cross section of pile cap for six piles
Fig. 11. View of Terramesh execution Fig. 13. Precast grandstands’ prefabricated beams on site
Fig. 15. Finite element model of the western part of the stadium
ent parameters for the harmonic numbers (activity crowds). Figure 16 shows a table with the difference between
Rodrigues’ [7] research was based upon local measure- the dynamic results (acceleration on determined points)
ments in Brazilian stadiums (with no seats in grandstands). considering the IStructE Guide [6] and Rodrigues [7].
A 3D finite element model (see Fig. 15) was devel- The difference between the results obtained with IS-
oped to evaluate the acceleration on critical points of the tructE Guide and Rodrigues is quite evident. This differ-
structure. ence could be based on the fact that the arenas studied
According to this model and taking into account by Rodrigues [7] in Brazil had no seats whereas the Euro-
the dynamic behavior of the crowd, it was possible to pean ones, studied in [6], did. With the presence of num-
define the dimensions of main structural elements bered seats, and according to the distance between seats
(cores, shear walls, columns and beams), in order to re- [1, 2], the available space to crowd movements is re-
spect the limits of comfort imposed by ISO standards. duced, not allowing larger excitations. Studies performed
Due to architectural impositions, the upper grandstand by Rodrigues [7] in Brazilian arenas were always in
located in the west wing presented a lower vertical stiff- grandstands with no seats, setting people free to move
ness. Consequently, this area was significantly excited (bobbing, jumping, etc.), and consequently larger excita-
by the vertical mode with minimum frequency in the tions were obtained. In the near future, the authors plan
grandstands, 6.013 Hz. to retro-analyse soccer matches held in the Corinthians
Table A2.2 Recommended values of the generated load factors, G ∝i, for use in calculations of performance for design or
assessment.
2 0.12 0.015 Zero Predominantly seated with occasional coordinated rhythmic Eqn. A2.3
movement from standing people
3 0.188 0.047 0.013 All crowd considered active. Moderate bobbing at three Eqn. A2.3
quarters Parkhouse and Ewin’s’ 50 person level
4.2 Roof
6 Connection detailing
Fig. 19. Typical joint detail between two prefab column segments in the west wing
In the east wing, where the building is not so high, cast beams, the small gap between the back face of the beam
single precast columns were employed. In the highest ar- and the front face of the column is filled with grout. The con-
eas of the west wing, the columns were split (see Fig. 19), tinuity to the top reinforcement of the beam, through the col-
at least into two elements, which were assembled using umn, is guaranteed by coupled reinforcement that crosses the
couplers to establish continuity to the main vertical rein- precast column after the installation of the beam (see Fig. 20).
forcement. The type of coupler adopted in the construc- This figure also shows corbels all along the side of
tion of this arena was a screwed splice. It consists of the the beams, with continuity through the columns, to make
following procedure. At the end of the bottom part of the constant the length of the precast slabs.
columns, a screwed bolt is welded to the reinforcement To establish a monolithic connection between pre-
bars. These bars splice to the main reinforcement of the cast grandstand beams, welded steel bars are used to
column. These screwed bolts remain outside the concrete transfer tension forces (see Fig. 21).
column. The top part of the column has a system of weld- For the connection between precast stands, bolts are
ed plates connected to the reinforcement bars of the col- used to transfer tension forces. These bolts are designed to
umn. The horizontal plate has a hole to fit the screwed allow a group movement of the stands. These stands are
bolt of the bottom column. Then, after a crane raises the pinned to the alligator beams (see Fig. 22).
upper part of the column and positions it over the bottom As it had been initially proposed, all the connections
column, a worker screws each nut, usually only in the four were optimized to achieve the best possible cost-time rela-
corners, for provisional stability of the column. After that, tionship. Even in cantilevered beams, (see Fig. 23) a pre-
the crane releases the column to move on to the next one cast solution was applied.
and the other necessary connections can be screwed. In In some zones, due to the strict clearance-height re-
comparison to a welded connection, the saved time is strictions, it was deemed necessary to substitute the pre-
about 80 minutes for each column. A welded connection cast concrete beams with slender composite beams or cast
would take about 130 minutes, while this screwed splice in situ post-tensioned girders (see Figs. 24, 25 and 26).
takes only about 50 minutes. After having connected all Alternative connection details can be found in Lu [8]
nuts, the connection is grouted to provide continuity to and Yekrangnia [9].
the structure and protect the reinforcement.
The prefabrication plant was able to produce 4 col- 7 Conclusions
umns per day. And the contractor usually assembled 4 col-
umns per day. A total volume of 5,200 m3 of concrete was Many and very different constraints, in particular the
used to produce the precast columns. time available for the design and construction of the
The joints of the frames are monolithic. To maintain this structure of the Corinthians Arena, determined the use
continuity, corbels located at different levels on the precast of structural concrete as the main material used in this
columns support the beams. After the installation of the pre- project.
Fig. 23. Typical joint detail applied to cantilever beams in the west wing
References