ROOFS

1. General elements

2. Classification 3. Functional requirements 4. The roofs forms 5. Structural elements of the roofs
6. Roof coverings

1. General elements
The roofs are parts of the building, placed at the top, and they create together with external walls and some elements of the infrastructure the outer cover system or the envelope of the building. The fundamental purpose of the roof is to cover the building and to create an internal space protected from the aggression of the external atmospheric factors as: weather (sun, rain, snow, wind) action, dust, noxious emanations. It receives rain and snow directly and in much greater quantity than the walls. It must therefore present a barrier to the entry of rain and rigorous waterproofing is essential in roofing design.

 The other vital factor in roof design is the span. In addition to supporting the dead load of the roof covering, the roof structure must also resist loads imposed by wind pressure and snow. Most roofs will also have to carry the loads generated by mean working on their construction or repair, and flat roofs may have to carry still greater loads resulting from their use. Other requirements which must be satisfied are the stability, strength, thermal insulation (often greater than that needed for the wall), fire resistance, durability and economical and esthetical requirements.

As a principle the roof is made of the following main elements that must satisfy defferent functional requirements : the covering which must be a water and dampness insulation and consists of a covering of tiles, or metal sheets or bitumen cardboard layers; the thermal insulating layer that must protect against the thermal gains due to the direct sun-heat and against heat loos in the winter; the vapour barrier (with diffusion layers or channels), that must prevent the water vapour migration inside the thermal insulation; some other auxiliary elements such as eaves gutter to collect and evacuate pluvial waters, ventilation channels, lights etc.).

The construction and the function of all these layers require some supporting and protecting elements. Most important are the structural elements of the roof that support and transmit the loads to the vertical structural elements of the building.

Consist of: the structural floor slab over the last or top level in the case of flat or terrace roofs;
structural elements as rafters, ridges, purlins, posts or props or structural frames in the case of pitched roofs.

The roof makes a major part of the building shell.

The design of the roof structure depends on the loading on the roof ... including wind loading, rain/snow loading, ..., choice of constituent building materials, the type of finish desired on the roof, roof insulation considerations, ...

2. Classification
a) Considering the angle of the slope or pitch:
pitched roofs with steeply slope (fall between 21 . . . 150%) and with medium slope (between 8 . . . 21%); flat (or terrace) roofs made of concrete, timber or metal framed platforms or slabs which are inclined with the fall between 1.5 ... 4% ( if there can be used for circulation) or with the fall between 2 ... 7% , if there are not destined to be circulated.

b) According the architectural forms roof:

with plane surfaces; with curved surfaces.

d) Considering the span of the roof there are: short span up to 7.60 m; medium span 7.60 to 24.40 m; long span over 24.40 m. e) According the hygrothermal behaviour there are: cold roofs, known also as ventilated roofs; warm roofs, unventilated known as compact roofs.

The cold roofs present in their structure a layer of air that is connected to the atmospheric air by a controlled on an uncontrolled ventilation system. This layer of air divides the structure of the roof in two parts: one is composed by the thermal insulating layer and the support layer that is usually the slab over the top floor (or a suspended ceiling); the other part consists of the waterproof membrane and its supporting layer. In this type of roofs, the water vapour coming (by migration) from the building rooms of the top floor, are evacuated in the atmosphere by the circulating air layer from the structure of the roof. In this way, the risk of vapour condensation is reduced as much as possible.

The cold ventilated roofs present greater hygrothermal efficiency than the unventilated warm roofs.

The

simple and unventilated or warm roofs are constructed as flat roofs. This type of roofs does not have any intermediate air layer for ventilation. To

improve the hygrothermal characteristic of the warm roofs the internal layers beneath the covering are linked to the external air by a network of small channels.

3. Functional requirements
The roofs has to protect the artificial indoor climate from the influence of the outdoor meteorological conditions. This specific location of the roofs, in the envelope of the building, at the border between two different climates; and the fact that its position is very close to the horizontal plane, emphasise some specific functional requirements.

a -Tightness against meteorological water actions

The roof must provide the collection and evacuation of meteorological waters acting on it as rain or snow. The evacuation of the water must be complete, without any infiltration throw the roof internal layers.
To satisfy these conditions the roof presents some slopes created by inclined plans or curved surfaces. The slope of the roof is chosen to determine a fast evacuation without water stagnation on the roof . Roofs must also provide enough tightness against water infiltration in windy rain conditions.

The roof covering constructive type and component material

Burnt clay tiles :
-

Slope (cm/m)

Minimum
60 45 45 53

Usual
70 . 55 . 50 . 45 . . . 90 . . 70 . . 70 . . 70

Maximum
275 275 120 120

plain tiles: distributed in single layer ; distributed in double layer; grooved tile: rolled; pressed;

Plane metal sheet

- with simple horizontal and double vertical seams; - with double horizontal and vertical seams;

15 7

30 . . . 50 15 . . . 60

Vertical

Profiled metal sheets

- one sheet high slope breadth; - more sheet high slope breadth;

5 12

6 . . . 12 15 . . . 40

Vertical

The roof type & The structure of slope tightening layer

the Recommended values of the tightness pressure limit

Flat roof with the Waterproof membrane in The pressure of a water layer of continuous layers minimum 2 4 cm slope 20o

Continuous layers, with tight joints, constructed by overlapping and sticking Roofs with the slope 20 o

A pressure grater or at least equal to the wind dynamic pressure estimated by standards for the building placement area.

Discontinuous covering of overlapped materials or elements with pen joints

b - Hygrothermal protection

Considering the hygrothermal aspect, the roof is submitted to more severe conditions than other building elements because: in the summer time building must be protected against the action of the external hot air, the temperature of the roof is much grater than the temperature of external air due to the accumulation of direct sun-light; in the winter the heat loss throw the roof are greater tan heat losses thou other elements of the building envelope (30% form the whole heat loss) because the warm air from inside has the tendency the rise up to the ceiling; the water vapour when migrate from spaces with higher pressure to those with lower pressure (usually form inside the building to outside) has to pass through the component layers of the roof. Therefore, the component layers of the flat roof must permit this transfer of the water vapour without condensation between the layers.

The position of the thermal insulating layer is important !!

The temperature differences supported by the rigid roof due to the seasonal changes can cause cracks in the building structure

c. Tightness against air infiltration

In order to avoid the excessive thermal looses and the decrease of the thermal comfort, emphasised by the air circulation, the roof must provide a minimal resistance to air permeability (Ra, min) that can be established by the expression:

Ra, min 0,1v2R0, nec

where : v - is the wind speed, in m/s;

[m/s],

R0,nec - is the necessary thermal resistance of the roof, in m2K/W.

d. The function of acoustic protection

The roofs have to contribute to the phonic insulation of the functional areas placed under them against airborne or impact sound. The requirement of insulation against airborne sound is fulfilled by internal configuration of the roof made as a system of multiple layers of different materials. The requirement of insulation against impact sound is not a major condition for the roof because just the raindrops can cause this type of noise. In this condition, the metal sheeting coverings are the most sensitive.

e. The function of natural lighting

It is possible to include in the surface of the roof some translucent or transparent elements to provide natural light in the spaces situated below the roof.

4.1. Pitched roofs with plane surfaces

4. The roofs forms

4.2. Shell roofs

The term shell is usually applied to threedimensional structures constructed with a curved solid slab or membrane acting as a stressed skin. This kind of roof is used especially for industrial and cultural buildings because of their span and height.

Single curved shells - these are barrel vaults of which there are two main forms: long span barrels and shortspan barrels

Cantilever barrel vaults

Double curvature shells - Domes

- Hyperbolic paraboloids

5. Structural elements of the roofs 1. Pitched roofs in timber Usually pitched roofs are: single pitched, double ( or purlin) roofs, or triple ( or trussed) roofs.

pitched roofs
The lean-to roof is a monopitch roof with the tops of the rafters pitched against a wall. The

1.1 Single

upper ends of the rafters are supported by a wall plate fixed to the wall by
corbel brackets

Couple roof this is the simplest from of

ridge roof with pairs (or couples) of rafters pitched one against other at their
heads and

bearing on the supporting wall at their feet.

In this arrangement of the rafters, P- the load transmitted by the rafters gives a vertical component (V), well supported by the walls, and a horizontal component (H) which is an outward thrust action of the rafter that tends to overturn the walls. In order to keep the roof stable this outer thrust must be resisted by sufficiently heavy supporting walls.

Close couple roofs This form of roof consist in the iIntroduction of horizontal members to tie together the feet of each pair of rafters and to prevent the outward thrust or spread tendency of the rafters. This forms simple triangulated structure and produces vertical loads in the bearing walls. The maximum economic span of this roof is about 6.00 m

1. 2 Double or purlin roofs

When the span is greater than 6 m and couple types of roof are used, the required rafters will have an uneconomic cross section, much greater than 10 cm. In this case, instead of using large rafters, it is cheaper to introduce a longitudinal beam under all the rafters, from one slope, to reduce the span.
The introduction of this beam or purlin as a second stage of support makes the roof to be considered as double roof. In this type of roof the main structural elements are the purlins which run parallel to the length of the roof. The purlins may be supported directly by cross walls or partitions at sufficiently close spacing or by props spaced at 3~5 m, along the length of the purlins. pairs, or couples of rafters, pitched against each other at their heads and with their feet resting on opposite walls.

Rafters are secondary structural elements and are placed in

Timber purlin roof elements: 1- wood boarding, 2rafter, 3- purlin, 4- prop, 5- pad, 6-collars

1.3 Triple or trussed roofs

When the roof span is large (more than 6,5 m) and multiple purlins are required these impose a large amount of props to support the purlins. In this case an alternative method of supporting the purlins and the roof covering is needed. The structural elements that can support the width of the roof are the roof trusses.

Truss can be made only using timber for spans of 6 to 10 m, or can combine timber for the compressed members and steel for the tensioned members for larger spans (of 10 30 m). Another alternative for spans of 6 15 m is to use plywood web beams instead of trusses.

2. Metallic pitched roofs -

used for industrial construction with large spans

3. Reinforced concrete roofs

These roofs can be constructed as a monolithic element or made of a combination of precast reinforced concrete elements.

3.1 Monolithic reinforced concrete roofs - used only for special buildings where precast elements cannot be used.

Plates with ribs and beams

reinforced concrete with constant or variable thickens.

Vaulted and arched roofs, made of a continuous curved shell of

3.2 Roofs of precast concrete elements

The main structural precast concrete elements used for roofs are :
a)

Precast rafters with on end supports. of precast or prestressed concrete ( T or double T sections) beams - with
constant or variable cross section on their length.

b) Precast or prestressed concrete trussed roof beams.

As secondary elements of the concrete roof there are used:
- reinforced concrete ribs to support the roof covering. - reinforced concrete T or elements, precast or pre-stressed caissons, etc.

3.3 Reinforced concrete flat roofs structure

The roofs with the slope of less than 7% are called flat roofs and in our country are common in blocks of flats and social or cultural buildings.

Flat roof structure: 1 - ceiling, 2 - reinforced concrete slab, 3 - cement mortar

sloping layer, 4 - vapour barrier, 5 - thermal insulation, 6 - mortar protection, 7 - diffusion layer, 8 - waterproof layer, 9 - protection layer (gravel).

6. Roof coverings 1 Thatched roofs

Sheaves of reed are joined on wood strips beginning from the eaves and ending at the ridge. The width of sheaves is (more than) 35 cm for reed and 25 cm for straw and they are joined with cooper wires to the strips.

2 Timber roof coverings 2.1 Timber board covering

The wood boards can be fixed parallel to the ridge, directly on the rafters and in this manner results a horizontal weatherboarding, or can be placed down directly on the purlins, perpendicular to the ridge in a vertical weatherboarding system. The timber boards should be preservative treated against weather action and fungal attack before being fixed.

2.2 Shingle roof covering

Wood roofs must be always equipped with skylights or roof lights or dormer windows for a better ventilation of the attic, in order to increase its life span.

3 Pitched roofs covered with asphalt cardboard

When it is used for pitched roofs, the asphalt cardboard is distributed in two layers. The first layer of the cardboard sheets is spread parallel to the eaves and the second layer across it. The sheets are fixed with nails and lapped 8~10 cm at joints. The last layer is covered with a continuous membrane of hot bitumen mixed with sand poured on the surface and spread to a thickness of not less than 3 mm.

True slates are obtained from metamorphic rocks which have the property that they can be split into thin sheets. They are impervious to water and extremely durable. Slates are manufactured in a variety of sizes in length from 60 to 25 cm and in width form 35 to 13 cm.

4 Slates 4.1 True slates

4.2 Cement diamond slates

4.3 Clay roofing tiles A. Curved tiles

1 - Pan and cover tiles - This type of covering consists in pairs of rounded pan-tile

(or under-tile) and cover-tile (or over-tile), in the shape of truncated cone or half of cylinder. Their length is between 30...40 cm and they have nail holes or fixing nibs.

2 - one-piece barrel tie

B. Plain tiles

The tiles are laid over the wood board and battens or directly on the battens. It is recommended to place under the tiling battens a waterproof membrane of asphaltic bitumen on felt or cardboard sheets against the condensation that may occur on the underside of the cold, impervious underlay of tiling.

Scale tiles - size

35 cm x17 cm x1 cm

Interlocking single lap tiles - One or more grooves in the vertical edges of
the tiles interlock when the tiles are laid. The advantage of this side lock is that it excludes wind and rain more effectively than a simple overlap

Ridges - The
usual form of ridge tiles is the halfround tile (but there are also V ridge tiles, see fig. 5.39,b.) and should be bedded in fillets of cement mortar and have sufficient width to give right lap over the tiles below the top course. The top two rows of tiles should be nailed. Applying ridge tiles with the lap facing away from the prevailing winds helps the tile shed wind-driven rain.

Hips

the hips of the roof can be covered with ridge tiles beaded in exactly the same way as the ridges. This constructive solution requires the use of hip irons to prevent the whole row of tiles from slipping.

Corrugated cement sheets

- 120~350 cm long and 67~102.5 cm wide

used for non-heated industrial or agricultural buildings.

Metal sheet coverings for pitched roofs -

The predominate coverings for low pitched roofs are black metal, galvanised sheets and sometimes aluminium, copper or lead strips, which are comparatively light in weight and therefore do not require heavy timbers to support them and have also a useful life as roof covering of many years and offer a very good waterproof insulation.