Column-Free Beam-Free Prefabricated Building Structure

There are mainly two different types of column-free beam-free prefabricated building structures, each suitable for different scenarios and having distinct characteristics.

Self-built houses with brick-concrete perforated slab structures of three or more floors built in the 1980s and 1990s

These houses belong to a category of “three-without, one-with” houses, characterized by the absence of structural columns, ring beams, and ground beams. Their load-bearing walls are mostly constructed using vertical hollow-bond masonry, which, to a certain extent, could meet the load-bearing requirements of the time. However, compared to modern standardized masonry methods, their structural stability is relatively weaker. The floor slabs are made of prefabricated perforated slabs, which are pre-made in factories and offer advantages such as fast construction speed. Nevertheless, due to the lack of structural columns, ring beams, and ground beams—key components that enhance the overall integrity and stability of the structure—these houses exhibit poor seismic performance when faced with natural disasters like earthquakes, making them prone to safety issues such as wall cracking and floor slab collapse. This type of structure was mainly constructed in the 1980s and 1990s, limited by the technological level and economic conditions of the time, and was a common form of self-built housing in rural areas and other places.

Column-free beam-free design structures in modern architecture

These are primarily applied in large-span spaces such as industrial plants, warehouses, and gymnasiums. By optimizing structural mechanics, they avoid the space occupation of traditional beam-column structures, resulting in more open and flexible interior spaces that facilitate equipment layout and personnel movement. These structures mainly rely on large-span steel structures or prestressed concrete technology, dispersing loads through load-bearing components such as roof ridges and crane beams. For example, in some large gymnasiums, the use of large-span steel structures enables column-free large spaces, providing audiences with better viewing experiences. In industrial plants, the column-free beam-free design facilitates the entry and installation of large machinery and equipment. Additionally, methods for achieving column-free effects in buildings include large-span trusses, arch structures, and flat slabs without beams, but these methods do not explicitly mention a direct connection to “prefabricated building structures” and are more commonly applied at the level of overall building structural design.