FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF A CONTRUCTIVE SYSTEM

When a building is designed, it's important to check two elements:

- the static analysis (vertical load)
- the dynamic analysis (horizontal actions)
The first analysis is generally easy and simple because you have to check if the load bearing walls (or the
pillars in the traditional system) can support the loads which they have to take.
The second analysis is instead more complicated and it includes the checking of the effects of the wind and
seismic actions. I call with this name this analysis because wind and earthquake are dynamic actions,
primarily the seismic action.
Then in this case it's very important the positioning of the vertical bearing elements and the relative
number, so it will be fundamental that we have to have vertical bearing elements which have support these
actions in two directions.
These vertical elements have to be continuous, they have to go from the ground floor to the roof and they
don't have to stop in a generic level because the shear action should not move in other positions and this
can happen when a vertical element stops before (by starting from the roof).

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EMMEDUE S.p.A. Via Toniolo, 39/b – Z.I. Bellocchi 61032 Fano (PU) Italy
Tel +39 0721 855650/1 - +39 0721 854030 - www.mdue.it – info@mdue.it
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF EMMEDUE CONSTRUCTIVE
SYSTEM
Emmedue system uses load bearing walls which can support in the same time the vertical loads and
the horizontal actions (wind and earthquake). These load bearing walls have a very big stiffness and
strenght along their plane, they have a lower resistance at perpendicular actions. Then it's very
important to have many M2 walls along two directions perpendicular to each other. These walls have to be
continuous in each level from ground floor to the roof.
For example if we have M2 walls only in one direction, when wind or seismic action will arrive
on the building in the perpendicular direction, there will be no walls which can support the shear action
created from the wind and earthquake because this action can be supported only from walls which
have a big stiffness and resistance in the same direction of the action.
About the vertical loads, the M2 walls can support 75000 Kg/ml by using 25/30 MPa of shotcrete and
standard steel mesh of 2,5 mm. In fact, we did many tests where we reach a breaking load until 128000
Kg/ml, but for the safety generally we consider 75000 Kg/ml (that is the minimum breaking load) because
this value is characteristic by using 25/30 MPa, while 115000 Kg/ml is a average value of compressive
strength in the test in University of Perugia by using a steel mesh of 3,5 mm and shotcrete of 35 MPa.
Obviously if we consider that the compressive strenght of the shotcrete is minimum of 25 MPa, this means
that the total resistance of the panels should be of 250x100x7= 175000Kg/ml. Then we have a smaller
vertical load in the test because in the panel there is the effect of the slenderness which reduces the total
load which can be supported from the panel. And the slenderness is smaller if the thickness of the panel
will be smaller, obviously.
Generally it is possible to use a simple coefficient of 3 to reduce the maximum load that a M2 wall can
support during the checking of the structural design, this means that the maximum loads can be
75000/3=25000 Kg/ml. This coefficient is the standard coefficient which the rules use generally to reduce
the strength of the material, for example for the concrete is of 2,15 more or less for the Eurocode, but for
the M2 panel we prefer to use a bigger coefficient to take into account the height of the panel, that is, the
slenderness of the M2 panels.
A file excel we will see after helps us to check the incidence of the slenderness which depends also form the
height of the panels. That is, a panel with a bigger height can support a smaller load, obviously.
Then to have a maximum number of storey, it's important to check the loads and the height of the panel.
To reduce the loads, it's possible to follow these indications:
- having a small span for the slab;
- turn the direction of the slab, so the loads will go in different walls and we will not have the loads applied
at the same walls always
- reducing obviously the dead loads, for example the screed, or considering all walls as load bearing walls,
so we should not consider the loads of eventually partition walls which have to be applied on the slab by
using 100Kg/mq more or less and then these loads will go to few load bearing walls while by using all walls
as load bearing walls each wall will support his load of the shotcrete.
Or it’s possible to use a bigger thickness of panel (to reduce the slenderness) and use the panel HP, which
has a bigger quantity of steel mesh and in the same can reduce the probability to have the cracking in the
shotcrete if we increase its thickness.
In Venezuela and Uruguay we created a 5 storey and 3 storey building by using the previous indications:
small span (and then small rooms), only 5 cm of the screed and the single panel in the slab (so the loads go
in two directions while in the ribs slab the loads go along the direction of the ribs because these have a
bigger stiffness than the continuous concrete slab of 5 cm on the top).

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EMMEDUE S.p.A. Via Toniolo, 39/b – Z.I. Bellocchi 61032 Fano (PU) Italy
Tel +39 0721 855650/1 - +39 0721 854030 - www.mdue.it – info@mdue.it