What Are the Columns of Prefabricated Panel Houses Like

The columns of prefabricated panel houses are usually thicker than those of cast-in-place panel houses, and there may be features such as no beams and no columns at the intersections of walls in terms of structural layout. The following explains from two aspects: column size and structural features.

Column Size Features

The columns of prefabricated panel houses are thicker, which is determined by their structural stress characteristics. Prefabricated panels are floor slab components pre-made in factories and directly installed and spliced at the construction site. Compared with cast-in-place panels, the connection strength between prefabricated panels and columns is relatively weak, and the overall integrity is poor. To ensure the safety and stability of the house structure, the columns need to bear greater loads, so their size is usually thicker to provide sufficient support. For example, in some early prefabricated panel houses, the diameter or side length of the columns may be about 10% - 20% larger than that of cast-in-place panel houses. The specific size is also affected by factors such as the number of floors, span, and load of the house.

Structural Layout Features

• No beams on interior walls: In prefabricated panel houses, since prefabricated panels are independently made components with limited span and load-bearing capacity, there is generally no need to set obvious beams inside the house to support the floor slabs. The main function of beams is to transfer the load of the floor slabs to the columns, while prefabricated panels can directly transfer part of the load to the walls and columns through their own structural design and installation methods. Therefore, from the appearance, there may be no obvious beam structures on the interior walls of the house.
• No columns at the intersections of walls: In some cases, there may be no columns set at the intersections of walls in prefabricated panel houses. This is because the installation method of prefabricated panels allows the load of the floor slabs to be dispersed and transferred through the walls, reducing the dependence on columns to a certain extent. However, this does not mean that there are no columns at the intersections of all walls in prefabricated panel houses. In some parts with large loads or high structural requirements, columns will still be set to enhance the structural stability.