Factors impeding the offsite production of housing construction in China: an investigation of current practice

The promotion of offsite production is a possible future strategic direction for the construction industry as it provides economic, environmental and social benefits. However, in China, the uptake of offsite production, particularly in the housing sector, is relatively low and few studies have identified and examined the reasons behind this trend. This research gap is addressed and factors that inhibit the wider use of offsite production in China’s housing construction industry are investigated. A questionnaire survey was carried out, examining the views of 110 construction professionals in China including developers, designers, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers. Factor analysis of 21 separate variables was undertaken which extracted six principal factors, namely: ‘constructability implementation’, ‘social climate and attitudes’, ‘architectural performance’, ‘costing’, ‘supply chain’ and ‘preparatory stage’. The findings identify both barriers and challenges to increasing the uptake of offsite production in China. This provides a rare insight about the housing construction industry in China with possible implications for other developing countries that are seeking to identify and overcome barriers to the wider uptake of offsite production.

Bearing e.g. connecting rod bearing, mounting method for reciprocating piston engine of motor vehicle, involves fixedly connecting bearing housing parts by welding process, where welding of parts is performed in defined external region

The method involves dividing a bearing housing into bearing housing parts (4A, 4B) by fracture-splitting. Bearing half-shells (5) are inserted into the parts. The parts are combined to a bearing that encloses a shaft, and are fixedly connected with each other by a welding process such as resistance welding, ultrasonic welding or cold pressure welding process. The welding of the parts is performed in a defined external region. An insulation material is applied between the half-shells and/or the shaft and the housing parts before welding. The parts are pressed on each other during welding.

Elastisch ausknickende Federstange

Federstange (1), mit mindestens einem schlanken Schaft (4) dessen Länge des ein Mehrfaches des Produktes aus seiner Breite (BS) und seiner Dicke (DS) beträgt und mindestens einem Stützträger (6, 7) der mit den Anschlagenden (8, 9) einen Spalt (11) bildet, der im Ruhezustand eine maximale Länge (L) hat und im Belastungszustand eine kleinere Länge (L1) hat dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der schlanke Schaft (4) und der Stützträger (6, 7) im verlaufen und der schlanke Schaft (4) durch Beaufschlagung einer bestimmten in Richtung der Stangenmittelachse (X) wirkenden Druckkraft (F) seitlich elastisch ausknickt, so dass sich die Stangenenden (2, 3) aufeinander zu bewegen und sich der Abstand zwischen den Anschlagenden (8, 9) verringert und ein plastisches Ausknicken des Schaftes (4) durch den Stützträger (6, 7) vermieden wird, indem sich die Anschlagenden (8, 9); berühren und die Dicke (D) des Stützträgers (7) deutlich grösser ist als seine Breite (B).