Glossary D Terms
Drawings
Trent produces highly detailed General Arrangement drawings, through which the design development of projects is agreed. GAs are issued to the project team for information exchange and approval. Shop drawings (we call them unit details) are internal production documents.
DPC/DPM
Damp Proof Course/Membranes are used as a secondary defence to prevent water penetration into a building. Precast panels are watertight and considerably reduce the need for DPC/DPM.
Debonding
Applies to natural stone veneers on precast panels where the stone is debonded from the backing concrete.
Deflection
The bending of a structural member due to applied forces.
Delivery
Trent manages delivery to site on a just-in-time basis so that the component can be lifted directly into its final position.
Demoulding
Removing a precast unit from a mould usually at 16/17 hours.
Design Development
Trent specialist design input by our in-house engineering and draughting team.
Detailing
The intensive process of determining, specifying and listing every detail and dimensions on working drawings.
Dew Point
The temperature at which condensation forms.
Double Seal
The typical primary seal in precast cladding construction is two gunned silicone seals near the outer face of the panels. A cavity is formed between the seals, which is drained at an appropriate point.
Dowel
A simple fixing device for precast panels – a dowel bar may be used in cladding designs to restrain the bottom of a panel.
Drained Joint
Applies to vertical joints where the edges of the panels are profiled to enable a baffle to be inserted, which prevents rainwater entering the joint for more than a short distance. The baffle is turned out by a flashing at each horizontal joint. The rear of the vertical joint has an air seal to provide pressure equalisation at the back of the baffle. Drained joints can only be used with repetitive simple straight joints.
Draw
Vertical surfaces in the base of the mould must be set at a slight angle to promote the demoulding of the precast unit from the mould.
Dry Pack
A 1:1 mixture of cement and fine aggregate which is rammed under bearing surfaces to form a continuous support.