Identification of the origins and risks of pathologies in steel structure buildings using total quality management tools.

Abstract

The steel structure construction is an interesting option to the already established concrete structure at a time when the Brazilian civil construction seeks more efficiency. To promote the use of this material it is necessary to have a better understanding of its characteristics and, especially, of its possible pathologies, to avoid degradation, costs, and even the collapse of the structure. In this study Total Quality Management tools were applied to analyze the pathologies found in five medium and large steel-structured buildings. The most frequent ones were structure corrosion, cracks in the closures, and infiltrations in the interface closure/structure. The Ishikawa Diagram is used to identify the origin of the causes of pathologies and the Gravity Urgency Tendency Matrix (GUT Matrix) is used inthe risk analysis of each pathology. The results obtained show that it is possible, through these Quality Management tools, to understand the origin of the pathologies, establishing their dangerousness and the degree of risk each one offers.