Modern Construction Project Report: Fabrication and Assembly

This report examines modern construction projects, specifically focusing on fabrication and assembly techniques. It begins by introducing a case study of the Macarthur Gardens multi-residential units in Australia, highlighting the use of timber fabrication. The report then delves into the characteristics of the project, including its environmental benefits and affordability. It also discusses the challenges associated with timber fabrication, such as moisture absorption and storage issues, and the creaking sounds. The core of the report explores innovations like the timber-concrete hybrid connection, detailing its benefits in terms of durability and structural efficiency, supported by diagrams. The report concludes by summarizing the advantages of this hybrid approach and suggesting potential areas for improvement in fabrication and assembly processes.

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Name of student
Student number
Course
Date

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Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
Company name and characteristics.................................................................................................6
Characteristics..............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................7
Project name and description...........................................................................................................8
THE PROBLEM(s).........................................................................................................................8
THE INNOVATION(s).................................................................................................................10
OUTCOMES.................................................................................................................................12
POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT(S) ON THE INNOVATION(S)...................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15
Figure 1.1: Macarthur gardens timber fabricated residential units……………………………. 7
Figure 2.1: Demonstration of timber-concrete hybrid composite…………………………….. 11
Figure 2.2: Concrete-timber hybrid fabrication……………………………………………….. 12

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Acknowledgements
First, I would like thank God for giving me the resources and strength for the research work I
have done. This is purely my work I gathered from various journals and books I came across that
purely dealt with the research topic I was given, which is FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY. I
would also like to thank various authors of the research materials I used during my research on
this study work. The kind of guidance and comments they provided were utterly important for
me in drawing conclusions for my research work. I would also like to acknowledge my teacher’s
dedication in making sure that this research work would go to plans through the guidance I was
able to get from him.

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Executive summary
Many fabrication and assembly companies have the objective of being able to offer high-quality
services and be able to cope with competitiveness in the modern global economy. Fabrication
involves bringing together standard parts of a tool and using it to manufacture a finished
product, for instance, a building. Activities involved in fabrication and assembly include
welding, bending, grinding and many others. Fabrication can be done using metal which is
called metal fabrication or using timber which is known as timber fabrication. Timber
fabrication has been widely discussed in this research work.
Even though timber has been used in fabrication in many parts of the world such as Sweden and
the Americas, a company involved in timber fabrication and assembly work that has been
discussed in this research study is the MCARTHUR gardens multi-residential units company
located in Campbelltown, Australia. Statics have shown that this is one of the leading timber
fabricated projects is the world. Furthermore, in this study work, the problems associated with
timber fabrication have been discussed. An innovation that has been developed in timber
fabrication to improve performance which is the timber-concrete hybrid connection has been
also discussed.

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INTRODUCTION.
Fabrication and assembly entail bringing together standard parts of a tool and using it to
manufacture a finished product, for instance, a building. Those involved in fabrication and
assembly works are known as fabricators and assemblers. These individuals perform activities
such as welding, cutting lasers, bending, profiling and grinding using machines. Furthermore,
they also constantly check on mistakes that might have occurred while performing fabrication
and assembly works. A number of procedures are to be followed when performing these
fabrication and assembly works (Yao et al, 2013). Fabrication and assembling companies always
prefer that workers involved in these activities be competent and skilled enough to enable high
productivity with minimal mistakes.
Before the further inventions were made, fabrication related activities were not easy to perform.
For example, when building ships, in most of the construction was carried out on building berths.
Their floors were laid in position with frames that had hanging beams (Mellis et al, 2016). This
formed the skeleton structure which was then tied together by relatively long pieces of wood
known as ribbands. This activity was complex to perform and therefore the need for further
inventions to make work easy was a priority. Further inventions on fabrication and assembly
such as welding have made work easier when constructing such kind of structures, and also in
large scale (Fallahi et al, 2016) (Kamar et al, 2011).
In this research work, a company involved in fabrication and assembly work has been discussed,
a description of projects they perform, innovations being made and the problems involved have
been stated. Furthermore, the specific benefits of fabrication and assembly, and various
improvements that can be made have been discussed.

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Company name and characteristics.
Introduction
Based on company name and characteristics in relation to fabrication and assembly, this research
work has mainly focused on strongbuild MACARTHUR GARDENS multi-residential units.
This is located in Campbelltown in Australia.
Characteristics
Some of the features which can be observed in MACARTHUR GARDEN multi-residential units
include;
 Residential building units are mainly fabricated using timber. Timber use is believed to
be time-saving, in addition to them being thermal resistant.
 There are three towers developed in MACARTHUR GARDENS.
 Within the three towers, there are about one hundred apartments
 About 55 of those apartments can be hired to those in need of residential apartments at an
affordable price.
 The other, about 45 apartments have been hired by private marketing companies.
 The cross-laminated timbers used in building those apartments have been effectively used
as alternatives to steel and concrete (Been et al, 2014). This has been important in
controlling pollution to the surrounding environment. Healthy living environment
towards the residents has therefore been a result of this project activity.
The diagram below shows Macarthur gardens residential units fabricated using timber.

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Figure 1.1: Macarthur gardens timber fabricated residential units.
Conclusion.
MACARTHUR GARDENS residential units are one of the largest timber fabricated residential
apartments in Australia. The housing services have been provided to residents with shelter needs
and marketing companies around Campbelltown. The timber used in fabrication has been
credited with a healthy environment as they have been used as an alternative to steel and
concrete. Use of steel and concrete has limitations like noise pollution which make a place
unsafe to reside during construction. In addition, the steel used is not thermal resistant; they tend

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to contract and relax when exposed to heat. In the above section, therefore, the features of
MACARTHUR residential units have been described, and the importance of timber used in
fabricating them.
Project name and description.
The name of the project was the Gardens Macarthur. This project is believed to have led to the
construction of one of the biggest timber fabricated apartments in the whole of Australia.
Statistics show that about three thousand cubic meters of cross-laminated timber were used
during construction. The housing services provided in those residential apartments are of low
cost and affordable to almost all social classes around Campbelltown. The use of cross-laminated
timber in this project is believed to be environment friendly. The method is also innovative and
alternative to the use of concrete and steel in the fabrication of buildings.
The companies involved in the Gardens Macarthur project were Strongbuild, BlueCHP limited
and AECOM. Initially, the contractors found it hard to maintain quality when building
residential units. However, after further consultations, they came up with a plan which ensured
high-quality construction using cross fabricated timber instead of the normal steel and concrete
used by many other companies. Cross-laminated timber used was manufactured by using timber
layers. These layers are arranged at alternating transverse and longitudinal sections and are then
glued together using a lot of pressure. This activity results in mechanically strong building
material with high thermal resistance (Been, 2014).

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THE PROBLEM(s).
There were a number of challenges faced while carrying out fabrication using timber in the
Gardens Macarthur building project. Most of those problems faced during fabrication using
timber were mostly construction and design related. First, poor placement of knots could easily
lead to massive bending and alter the strength of the timber grain used. This problem is mainly
caused when there are large slopes in the timber grain knot used. Secondly, timber can easily
absorb moisture from the atmosphere which may result in rotting especially if they are softwood
(Eliasson and Gustafsson, 2013). Minor leakages from the room can also lead to decay of wood
which can only be noticed when the timber has decayed, particularly if they are left abandoned
somewhere for some time.
Furthermore, timber covers a large storage space. They are also too heavy to carry, and severe
injuries are common when they are not handled or stored properly. The need to handle timber
properly when doing fabrication is important and failure may result in accidents such as fractured
legs or any other part of the human body. On the other hands, timber tends to make creaking
sounds when they are stressed with loads in a building (Chadwick, 2015). Loads which
commonly caused stress in timber is snow on the roofs. This may easily cause bending and
deform the structure initially built. Other timber products such as plywood or flake boards can
also warp easily when they are not kept safely somewhere during construction. The structural
integrity can, therefore, be lost as time goes by which may not be easy to rectify when they are
needed for fabrication.
Moreover, the use of timber means that some tree species are also threatened. Cutting down a
tree is commonly where timber fabrication is required. When the plant species used are not
replaced by planting others, the environment is also likely to be degraded. Some individuals

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would also sell timber at a high cost especially when they know they are required for related
fabrication works.
THE INNOVATION(s).
Modern construction works have mainly focused on sustainability aspects while making the use
of timber in doing fabrication. However, timber fabrication industries have found it difficult
especially due to the fame concrete use has in most parts of the world. Under this section, the
application of timber-concrete duo as a new innovation in performing fabrication work has been
discussed (Crocetti et al, 2015). The characteristic issues in relation to a combination of timber
and concrete hybrid used in fabrication and the technical decision making involved have also
been highlighted in this section.
Many engineering companies have carried out research on whether timber and concrete hybrid
can be possible to use in fabrication. The characteristic performances have been observed, and
these methods have been found to be economically effective (Khorsandnia et al, 2016). The
specifical timber built and concrete built building performances have been observed before
applying this new method of fabrication. The relative performance results that have been
observed have led to proposals towards a combination of both fabrication materials in building
durable structures (Auclair et al, 2016).
Below is a demonstration of timber-concrete hybrid composite;

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Figure 2.1: Demonstration of timber-concrete hybrid composite.
In this method, the timber and concrete used are brought together by glue-lamination. The glue-
laminated timber and concrete are then used in building floors. For the walls of the building is
fabricated using glue-laminated posts. Usually, the building foundation is constructed and then a
structural shaft core elevator is built (Schober et al, 2014). The core built is normally made using
concrete and wood which make the building strong and act as a framework on to which the
floors and walls are suspended.
When performing this method of fabrication, it is important to have a proper plan on the
procedures that re to be followed to avoid faultiness in construction. A lot of time this could be
taken in carrying our repair and patching which are not easy to do is also minimized. There is a

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need for a lot of care when combining the joints and through this joint width that is ununiformed
can be avoided.
The diagram below demonstrates a concrete-timber fabrication of a bridge;
Figure 2.2: Concrete-timber hybrid fabrication.
OUTCOMES.
The use of concrete-timber hybrid in fabrication has been common in recent years. In this
section, the benefit of using the newly invented method of fabrication has been discussed.
First, building fabricated using this method is of high quality and durable compared to those that
are built when timber or concrete is used alone. Due to this factor, floors that were previously
built using timber can be refurbished to more durable ones using this method.
Secondly, the structural foundations of buildings fabricated using this method are small. This is
economically advantageous as the building is constructed upwards. This normally depends on
the ease with which timber can be lifted to the upper levels using for instance machines. In
addition, this method of fabrication takes short time span to layout (Yeoh et al, 2011). In some

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scenarios, fabrication on a large building can be done in about 1-2 weeks when the timber-
concrete hybrid method is applied.
In relation to safety, when the materials are properly handled and with care especially when
lifting them, safety can easily be maintained. Injuries and accidents are thus minimal in such
cases.
Lastly, in terms of scheduling, it is easy to carry out advanced planning to apply this method of
fabrication. This helps in minimizing faulty construction results and width joints that are not
uniform. The scheduled plans are usually dependent equipment requisition prior to the beginning
of work (Dias et al, 2016).
From this section, it is clear to see that through efficient planning, the timber-concrete hybrid has
a number of beneficial outcomes.
POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT(S) ON THE INNOVATION(S).
Timber-concrete mixtures should have a proper connection between the two compounds, and
achieving this is normally by use of metal fasteners inside the wood. Here, in this section, a
discussion of how timber-concrete hybrid connection can be improved to enhance strength has
been discussed (Schoberet al, 2016) (Dias et al, 2016). Before glueing both the concrete and
timber together, a compound known as xerogel is usually applied on the wood surface. This
chemical reacts with the wood surface and makes it adhesive. The adhesiveness property enables
the wood to resist further reactions from other chemicals (Loss et al, 2016). The timber is thus
preserved and its structure is maintained in a way that when they are now to be glued together
with concrete, a compact structure can be obtained. Treating wood surface, therefore, enhances
its mechanical properties. Results from various studies show that treating wood prior to glueing

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it with concrete, can help improve the resistance and strength of the composite when used in
fabrication (Tannert et al, 2017).
Conclusion.
Timber fabrication has been a very common practice in construction for many years. It has been
widely used in regions such as Sweden, Australia and in America. However, in this research
study, timber fabrication practice in MACARTHUR gardens in Campbelltown, Australia has
widely been discussed. Statistics have shown that MACARTHUR gardens is one of the biggest
timber fabricated residential building in the world. Furthermore, in this study work, the problems
associated with timber fabrication have been discussed. An innovation that has been developed
in timber fabrication which is the timber-concrete hybrid connection has been also discussed.

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References
Auclair, S.C., Sorelli, L. and Salenikovich, A., 2016. A new composite connector for timber-
concrete composite structures. Construction and Building Materials, 112, pp.84-92.
Been, V., Gross, B. and Infranca, J., 2014. Responding to Changing Households: Regulatory
challenges for micro-units and accessory dwelling units. What Works Collaborative white paper.
NYU Furman Center, New York.
Chadwick, J.D., 2015. Techniques for building construction using fabricated timbers. U.S.
Patent 8,950,130.
Crocetti, R., Sartori, T. and Tomasi, R., 2015. Innovative timber-concrete composite structures
with prefabricated FRC slabs. Journal of Structural Engineering, 141(9), p.04014224.
Dias, A.M.P.G., Skinner, J., Crews, K. and Tannert, T., 2016. Timber-concrete-composites
increasing the use of timber in construction. European Journal of Wood and Wood
Products, 74(3), pp.443-451.
Dias, A.M.P.G., Skinner, J., Crews, K. and Tannert, T., 2016. Timber-concrete-composites
increasing the use of timber in construction. European Journal of Wood and Wood
Products, 74(3), pp.443-451.
Eliasson, L. and Gustafsson, Å., 2013. Quality deficiencies regarding softwood in the pre-
fabrication industry for single-fa

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Fallahi, A., Poirier, E.A., Staub-French, S., Glatt, J. and Sills, N., 2016. Designing for Pre-
Fabrication and Assembly in the Construction of UBCäó» s Tall Wood Building. Modular and
Offsite Construction (MOC) Summit Proceedings, 1(1).
Kamar, A.M., Hamid, Z.A. and Azman, N.A., 2011. Industrialized building system (IBS):
Revisiting issues of definition and classification. International journal of emerging
sciences, 1(2), p.120.
Khorsandnia, N., Valipour, H., Schänzlin, J. and Crews, K., 2016. Experimental investigations of
deconstructable timber–concrete composite beams. Journal of Structural Engineering, 142(12),
p.04016130.
Loss, C., Piazza, M. and Zandonini, R., 2016. Connections for steel–timber hybrid prefabricated
buildings. Part II: Innovative modular structures. Construction and Building Materials, 122,
pp.796-808.
Mellis, D.A., Buechley, L., Resnick, M. and Hartmann, B., 2016, June. Engaging amateurs in the
design, fabrication, and assembly of electronic devices. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM
Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (pp. 1270-1281).
Schober, K.U., Becker, W., Drass, M. and Weber, J., 2014. High-performance timber composite
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Tannert, T., Endacott, B., Brunner, M. and Vallée, T., 2017. Long-term performance of
adhesively bonded timber-concrete composites. International Journal of Adhesion and
Adhesives, 72, pp.51-61.

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Yao, Y., Brueckner, E., Li, L. and Nuzzo, R., 2013. Fabrication and assembly of ultrathin high-
efficiency silicon solar microcells integrating electrical passivation and anti-reflection
coatings. Energy & Environmental Science, 6(10), pp.3071-3079.
Yeoh, D., Fragiacomo, M., De Franceschi, M. and Heng Boon, K., 2011. State of the art on
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