ORCES ON HIGH-RISE STRUCTURES
High-rise structures are primarily subjected to complex, dynamic forces that
increase with height, including significant lateral wind loads and seismic
(earthquake) activity, alongside vertical gravity loads (dead/live loads). These
structures act as giant cantilever beams, requiring specialized systems like shear
walls, outriggers, and tuned mass dampers to manage bending, swaying, and
structural stability.
INTRODUCTION
In the contemporary era of urban densification, the construction of high-rise
buildings and complex infrastructures has necessitated a more rigorous approach
to structural integrity. Historically, structural design focused on isolated load
cases; however, as noted by Fu (2018), modern engineering must now account for
a multi-hazard environment where extreme events—such as earthquakes, severe
wind loads, and accidental fires—threaten the resilience of the built environment.
The Dynamics of Natural Forces: Earthquake and Wind The primary challenge in
tall building design lies in resisting lateral forces. Earthquake engineering focuses
on the dissipation of energy through ductility and seismic detailing, ensuring that
structures can undergo significant deformation without total failure. Conversely,
wind load design often governs the serviceability and habitability of a structure,
focusing on stiffness and the mitigation of vortex-induced vibrations. Fu
emphasizes that while both are lateral loads, their physical mechanisms differ: one
is a base-excitation mass-dependent force, while the other is a surface-pressure
phenomenon. Beyond Resistance:
Collapse Prevention A critical evolution in structural theory is the transition
from "strength" to "robustness." Collapse prevention involves designing against
progressive collapse—a chain reaction of failures caused by a localized trigger.
According to Fu, incorporating "alternate load paths" and ensuring structural
redundancy are vital. This ensures that if a primary member (such as a ground-
floor column) is compromised, the remaining structure can redistribute the loads,
preventing a catastrophic disproportionate collapse.
The Final Frontier: Fire Safety and Structural Integrity Often overlooked in
traditional structural modeling is the impact of fire safety. High temperatures
significantly reduce the yield strength and stiffness of steel and concrete. Fu
(2018) argues for an integrated "fire-structural" analysis, where the building is
assessed not just for its ability to contain smoke, but for its capacity to maintain
load-bearing stability during a thermal event. The synergy between fireproofing
measures and structural robustness is what ultimately defines a truly resilient
building.
2.7 EARTHQUAKE DESIGN
As required by the design codes such as Eurocode 8 [9], ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5],
the major objective of the seismic design is to ensure the safety of the public,
especially reduces the loss of life and sometimes causes damage to the facilities. The
structure must be designed to remain in a safe condition even after an earthquake,
and to permit the safe evacuation of all its occupants. Although some structural and
nonstructural damage will inevitably occur, it should be restricted by careful seismic
detailing to ensure that demolition and rebuilding costs are less.
Eurocode 8 [9] has two different requirements in the design based on the
specific earthquake:
1. For a mean return period of 475 years of earthquake, which is the so-called
“design seismic action,” the performance requirement is to avoid collapse of
structure, or so-called “no-collapse requirement.”
2. For the so-called “serviceability seismic action,” which corresponds to a
mean return period of 95 years, the performance requirement is that the main
structure is no need for any repair, for nonstructural members, it should be easy or
economically repairable, this is also called “damage
2.7.1 Horizontal and Vertical Seismic Actions
It is normal practice to design for horizontal seismic forces only, in most of
the regions, vertical seismic forces are not significant. As a rule of thumb,
Fig. 2.17 Beetham Hilton Tower Manchester. (This file is licensed under the Creative
Com-
mons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Free license,
[Link]
Beetham_Tower_from_below.jpg.)
horizontal seismic loading of 0.3 g are commonly used in design. However,
exceptionally high vertical accelerations may result in damage to many of the
buildings, or even collapse, in countries such as Japan and Turkey. During Kobe
earthquake in Japan, 1995, vertical movement was greater than horizontal movement
and that resulted in vertical forces >1.0 g. ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5] gives the equation in
both horizontal and vertical seismic load effect.
For horizontal seismic effect.
where Eh , is the horizontal seismic load effect, Q E = effects of horizontal
seismic forces from V or F p , where required in ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5], such effects shall
result from application of horizontal forces simultaneously in two directions at right
angles to each other, and p = redundancy factor. al seismic forces as defined in
Section [Link].1 of ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5], and E v is the effect of vertical seismic
forces as defined in Section [Link].2 of ASCE/SEI
7–10 [5]
For Vertical seismic effect.
E v = 0:2S DS D
where Ev, is the vertical seismic load effect, SDS = design spectral response
acceleration parameter at short periods obtained from Section 11.4.4 of ASCE/SEI 7
10 [5], and D is the effect of dead load. In Eurocode 8 [9], there are two different
types of response spectrum, horizontal and vertical for designers to use in their
project. Both
ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5] and Eurocode 8 [9] give an equation on the combination of
the three seismic components (horizontal seismic load effect in the x direction x, y
and vertical seismic load effect in z). For ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5], following combinations
can be used:
a. For use in load combination 5 in Section 2.3.2 or load combinations 5 and 6
in Section 2.4.1 of ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5]
b. For use in load combination 7 in Section 2.3.2
or load combination 8 in
Section 2.4.1 of ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5]
where E is the seismic load effect, E h is the effect
of horizontal seismic forces as defined in Section [Link].1 of ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5],
and Ev is the effect of vertical seismic forces as defined in Section [Link].2 of
ASCE/SEI 7–10 [5]
For Eurocode 8 [9], following combinations can be used:
where λ ¼ 0.3, E x , is the horizontal seismic
load effect in the x direction, E y , is the horizontal seismic load effect in the y
direction, and E z , is the vertical seismic load effect. However, the vertical
component is used only exceptionally in countries such as Japan and Turkey, where,
the vertical seismic action cannot be ignored.
2.8 WIND LOAD DESIGN
To understand wind action on tall buildings is important for an engineer.
Compared to seismic loading, wind load is the governing load in tall building design
in most instances for lateral stability system design. This is due to the longer
natural period of the tall building, which results in a smaller earthquake response
compared to low rise building. However, it depends on the location and importance
of the building, sometimes a necessary check needs to be performed. While
designing the Shanghai Tower [12], in order to compare the influences of wind load
and earthquake action on the structural member design, the base reactions of 100-
year wind load, frequent earthquake (50-year return period) and moderate
earthquake (475-year return period) are analyzed. It is found that the structural
responses under wind load is larger than those under frequent earthquake, but is
smaller than those under moderate earthquake.
For low-rise buildings, such as building below eight stories, oscillation due to
wind loading is rarely a problem. For building with 8 and 20 stories, the dynamic
effect of wind loading becomes more important with height. The impact of the
bracing system on core and elevation design is often greater than in low-rise
buildings. For buildings over 20 stories where dynamic behavior under wind loading
may govern and where ‘whole structure’ stability systems such as bundled tubes or
external braced tubes may be appropriate.
For a tall building of certain height and slenderness, wind forces resulted
motions in the upper levels become dominant factors in the structural design. This is
primarily for the sake of the occupants’ comfort. It is important to ensure first the
buildings to meet strength and safety requirement under wind action for ultimate
state design. Secondly, serviceability limit state design of a tall building during wind-
induced motion is another critical design issue, as the occupant’s comfort needs to be
assessed, in addition, the excessive deflection of the structure may cause the
fracture of the facade or glazing. For tall buildings which are close together, the
comfort of the pedestrian is also affected by the wind, therefore, in some projects,
pedestrian wind environment studies should also be performed.
Therefore, engineers need to take all aforementioned design issues into
consideration to deliver a high standard design for clients and future occupants. In
most of the cases, the service limit design for occupants’ comfort is a major control of
the structural system and structural member sizes in tall building design.
In real design practice, tall buildings such as Taipei 101 and Burj Kalifa,
extensive program of wind tunnel tests and other studies were normally undertaken
by the wind tunnel consultant, to evaluate the effects of wind on building loading,
behavior, and occupant comfort.
2.8.1 Fundamental of Wind Loading
Though we are not wind engineers, it is important for a structural engineer to
understand the characteristic of wind around tall buildings. In tall buildings design,
wind action needs to be considered at an early stage so that the size and structural
form can be optimized to reduce wind load effects. The aspect ratio of the structure is
a key factor when considering the wind loads effect. In addition, the effects of wind
during construction stage should also be considered at the design stage. Therefore,
minimize excessive wind loading on the structural elements of the building during
construction. The flow of wind is further affected by the roughness of the Earth’s
surface. Therefore, it is difficult to be interpreted by structural engineers, especially
for large structures and, hence, wind tunnel tests are the rational way of predicting
unusual wind effects around buildings.
Fig. 2.29 shows the wind blows through a tall building, two wind
responses can be observed. Along wind response and cross wind response
needs to be considered in tall building.
As shown in Fig. 2.30, the along-wind caused the positive pressure on
the windward faces as it is shown in region 1, and suction on the leeward
as it shown in region 3. There is also a drag effect on the surface parallel to
the direction of the wind as it shown in region 2. The combination of these three
forces will result a net force working on the structure, therefore, should be considered
in the design.
For tall or slender structures, their dynamic effect can produce amplification
force on the structure. For along-wind, the dynamic response comes from buffering
effect caused by the turbulence. However, in tall building design, the crosswind
motion perpendicular to the direction of wind is more critical than the along-wind
motion. Due to high design wind speed and relatively low overall stiffness, tall
buildings are susceptible to vortex- induced vibration. For supertall buildings, the
across-wind load due to vortex shedding is even higher than the along-wind load. It is
normal that cross- wind response dominates the design wind load.
[Link] Along Wind
There are two components in the along wind, a mean component due to the
mean wind speed and a fluctuating component due to gust or eddies.
The separation of wind loading into mean and fluctuating components is based
on gust-factor approach by many design codes. The mean load component is
evaluated from the mean wind speed using pressure and load coefficients. The
fluctuating loads are determined separately by a method which makes an allowance
for the intensity of turbulence at the site, size reduction effects and dynamic
amplification [13].
[Link].1 Wind Pressure
The pressure of the wind is correlated with wind velocity. There are two types
of wind velocities acting on structures named as mean and gust wind velocities. Gust
wind velocity is the maximum wind velocity applied on a building having the
maximum and highest wind forces. Mean wind velocity is the average of all the wind
velocities acting on the structure. As the height of the structure increases, velocity
increases proportionally until it reaches its maximum value. Moreover, the terrain of
the area in the specific location of the structure relates to the maximum velocity that
will be achieved. For instance, at an open area where there are no obstacles,
maximum velocity will be achieved at a lower height compared to an area in urban
cities where the skyscraper is surrounded by buildings that block the wind.
The speed of the wind varies with the return periods. In design practice, wind
statistics played an important role in predicting levels of response to return period.
Data such as ground-based wind data, balloon data and computer simulations
employing Regional Atmospheric Modeling techniques are used to establish the wind
regime at the upper levels. In the design codes, different return period of wind is
chosen for different design purpose such as ultimate design and human comfort
design.
The relationship between wind velocity and pressure is defined in design codes
across the world. However, for buildings over 40 stories or height over 200 m (EN
1991-1-4:2005. Eurocode 1 [7]) wind tunnel test should be required for accurately
assess the wind loading the structures. Wind load is determined by a probabilistic-
statistical method based on the concept of: “equivalent static wind load,” on the
assumption that structural frames and components/cladding behave elastically in
wind. SEI/ASCE 7–10 [5] gives below equations for wind pressure of along- wind:
where P z is the wind pressure at height z above mean ground level, V 33 is the basic
3 s gust speed in exposure category C at reference height 33 ft. above mean ground
level, ρ is the mass density of air, and k z is the exposure coefficient. According to
Eurocode 1 (EN 1991-1-4, 2005) [14], the wind loading can be expressed as.
where ρ is the air density, H is the total height of the building from the ground,
Cp is the pressure coefficient of the building, vm (z) is the 10-min mean wind velocity
at a height z from the ground, and v(z,t) is the turbulent wind
velocity.
where vb is the basic wind velocity, kR is the terrain factor, zmin is the height
below which the logarithmic profile loses its significance and the mean wind velocity
is considered as constant, and z0 is the roughness length of the site.
Different codes have different formulas. However, the relationships are quite
similar. It is difficult to predict responses in the across-wind and torsional directions
theoretically like along-wind responses. However, some prediction formula based on
the fluctuating overturning moment in the across-wind direction and the fluctuating
torsional moment for the first vibration mode in each direction can be developed.
[Link] Cross Wind
The cross-wind effect is mainly caused by the vortex shedding, which will be
introduced in detail in the latter part. The study from Ref. [15] shows that:
“Compared with along-wind response, across-wind response is more sensitive to wind
speed. At lower wind speeds, the along-wind loads normally dominate but with
increase of wind speed the across-wind loads take over.” Therefore, the cross-wind
acceleration is normally predominant as it is likely to exceed the along wind
acceleration.
[Link].1 Vertex Shedding
Vortex shedding is a phenomenon, when the wind blows across a structural
member, vortices are shed alternately from one side to the other, and where
alternating low-pressure zones are generated on the downwind side of the structure
giving rise to a fluctuating force acting at right angles to the wind direction (Fig.
2.31).
For slender (in tall building design, a structural member may be considered
slender if the ratio of the height to its narrowest side exceeds 7 [16]) and lightly
damped buildings, large amplitude vibrations in the plane normal to the wind may
develop when the vortex shedding is in resonance with one of the natural
frequencies of vibration. Vortex shedding induced effects for very flexible members
may also be important for higher modes.
The character of the vortex shedding forces depends on the shape of the
buildings. Therefore, for supertall buildings such as Burj Kalifa, wind tunnel test was
used to shape the building to minimize wind effects through disturbance on vortex
shedding over the height of the tower. The frequency of vortex shedding can be
determined by Strouhal number (St). The St number is dependent on the cross
section of the building or object which flow passes over, and is also dependent on the
velocity of the flow, or the Reynolds number. Eq. (2.12) shows how to work out the St
number.
where S is the St number, D is the width of the building or object over which
the flow passes, fv is the frequency of the vortex shedding, and U is the flow speed.
Once this frequency is close to the fundamental frequency of the building, cross-
wind oscillations will be experienced inside the building.
2.8.2 Wind Drift Design
Limits for wind deflection or the relative deflection between adjacent floors in
buildings are specified in many wind loading and design codes. In some cases,
these limits are given as recommendations rather that as mandatory requirements.
The main reasons for adopting wind drift deflection limits are to limit damage to the
cladding (see Fig. 2.32) on the building facade and to partitions and interior
finishes, reduce the effects of motion perceptibility and limit the P-Delta or
secondary loading effects.
2.8.3 Occupant Comfort and Criteria of Buildings to Wind
Induced Vibrations Most occupants in tall buildings will percept a certain degree of
motion due to wind actions. With the increasing of the magnitude and frequency of
occurrence, occupants’ comfort may be affected when they are excessive comfort
level. The occupants’ comfort during wind-induced motion is generally assessed using
the acceleration. Many wind codes and standards predict the acceptance criteria
based on the acceleration.
[Link] Objective of Occupant Comfort Design
The main objective of occupant comfort design is to provide a comfortable
environment. It needs to mitigate the fear and eliminating discomfort. People will
tolerate discomfort with longer recurrence intervals and short time duration.
Therefore, when evaluating the vibration of the building, 1-year recurrence interval
becomes common.
[Link] Human Perception of Motion
The human response to the motion is a physiologically complex problem. In the
research, motion simulator or real field investigation are conducted to determine the
human perception to the wind induced motion, and the threshold acceleration on the
basis of the natural frequency of the building can be determined.
[Link] Occupant Comfort Design Criteria
The international standards ISO 6897:1984 [17] predict a strong dependence
between the threshold of comfort and the frequency of vibration. As shown in Fig.
2.33, The International Standard ISO 6897:1984 [17] specifies the maximum
allowable RMS acceleration for a 10-min mean wind velocity with a 5-year return
period, for a natural frequency range of 0.06–1 Hz. There are also other international
standards such as ISO 2631-2 [18,19] provide essentially similar provisions, focusing
on the interval from 1 to 80 Hz.
The recent ISO 10137:2007 standard [19] has the evaluation curve for wind-
induced vibrations is given for peak acceleration for a 1-year return period. However,
it provides guidelines for both tall and low buildings, the natural frequencies range
from 0.06 to 5 Hz. Fig. 2.34 shows the serviceability criteria recommended by ISO
10137 [19] for human comfort against wind induced vibrations of buildings.
3. Adding supplementary damping system, such as TMD. One of the famous
examples is Taipei 101. It is can easily increase the damping ratio of the building and
achieve 30%–40% reduction in the wind-induced vibration [20].
2.8.4 Effects of Neighboring Tall Buildings on Wind
When several tall buildings are constructed in proximity, there is a so-called
Venturi effect which describes a wind created by air is squeezed through a narrow
space known as “channeling.” The fluid flow through the group may be significantly
deformed and have a much more complex feature than isolated tall buildings,
resulting in enhanced dynamic pressures and motions especially on neighboring
structures. In addition, it will also affect the wind environment on the street level, and
affecting the comfort for the pedestrians. The combination of these different effects is
complicated. Therefore, study of mutual interference among closely located tall
buildings is an important problem in tall buildings design. CFD analysis or wind tunnel
test should be employed to make the wind environment analysis, to ensure there
would be no damage to structures. But the potential effect on people is becoming
more of a focus and no effective solutions have been found.
2.8.5 Outdoor Human Comfort Design for Pedestrian on the Street
As discussed in the earlier sections, in certain tall building projects, wind
environment studies should be performed to satisfy the outdoor human comfort for
pedestrian. This is due to the increasing incidents occurs to the pedestrians due to
the strong gust outside the tall building. It is noticed that, high-rise buildings affect
the surrounding pedestrian level wind environment. It is also observed that creation
of low wind speed areas around tall buildings may lead to poor out-door air
ventilation [21].
2.8.5 Outdoor Human Comfort Design for Pedestrian on the Street
As discussed in the earlier sections, in certain tall building projects, wind
environment studies should be performed to satisfy the outdoor human comfort for
pedestrian. This is due to the increasing incidents occurs to the pedestrians due to
the strong gust outside the tall building. It is noticed that, high-rise buildings affect
the surrounding pedestrian level wind environment. It is also observed that creation
of low wind speed areas around tall buildings may lead to poor out-door air
ventilation [21].
[Link] Effect of Wind on Outdoor Human Comfort
As it is reported by BBC News, a sales assistant almost got blown over when
walking up the building outside the 20 Fenchurch Street Building, London, due to the
strong wind. In Leeds, England, a 35-year-old person was crushed after strong winds
toppled a lorry near the 32-story tall building, Bridgewater Place.
Owing to these reported incidents, some regulations are planned by the
government. In UK, the City of London Corporation has promised a more rigorous
assessment of developers’ predictions of ground winds. In Toronto, Canada, a new
law is planned to set to ensure planning for skyscrapers takes into account the risk of
street winds. However, nothing has been put into enforcement.
The strong wind near tall buildings is caused by the “downdraught effect.” As
shown in Fig. 2.35, when the air hits a building, it is pushed up, down and around the
sides. The air forced downwards increases wind speed at street level. In addition,
there is also an acceleration of wind around the side of the buildings if it has
completely square corners. For corner- rounded buildings, downdraught effect is not
severe, as the air does not accelerate around corners.
[Link] Measures to Improve Outdoor Human Comfort
There are several methods to reduce the effect of wind on the pedestrian level
environment. The normal method is to rearrange the environment. In Leeds, the city
council granted permission for angled shelters near the base of Bridgewater Place,
known as “baffles.” The research of [21] shows:
1. A single-wider building created adverse effects on the natural air ventilation
at pedestrian level.
2. A taller building improved the near-field air ventilation conditions.
3. An adverse effect on natural air ventilation at pedestrian level when the
building separations are less than half the building width.
4. A wider building separation configuration improved the pedestrian comfort
conditions by reducing the total area of the high wind speed zones.
5. Inclusion of a podium was also found to affect adversely the air movement
around buildings. The podium resulted in potentially uncomfortable winds over
a larger area, which has the potential to affect more people in the nearby
surrounding environment.
2.8.6 Wind Tunnel Test
As discussed in the earlier sections, wind tunnel test is essential for most of the
building designs. Fig. 2.36 shows a wind tunnel test facilities. The wind tunnel testing
program normally includes rigid-model force balance tests, a full aeroelastic model
study, and measurements of localized pressures, such as cladding pressure studies
and pedestrian winds studies. A brief introduction for the wind tunnel test will be
made here for reader’s reference.
[Link] The Rigid Model Force Balance Tests
In wind tunnel studies, aeroelastic model will be accurate as it will provide detailed
information of dynamic loads and motion of the prototype. However, it is more
complicated and expensive and it cannot be carried out at the initial design stage
when the structural system is not finally determined. However, a high-frequency
force balance test is an alternative method which is faster and more cost efficient.
Force balance tests measure the mean and quasi-steady dynamic forces based
on a rigid model [22]. The model is mounted on a stiff balance, the frequency of both
the model and the balance are chosen to be sufficient high.
The test results are combined with the dynamic properties of the building to
determine the deflection, acceleration, the resonant dynamic component of the wind
loads and responses. It can also determine the overall overturning moments acting
on the building, estimate the equivalent static design load distribution over the height
of the building, carry out parametric studies on the variation of dynamic properties
such as natural frequency, mass, and damping.
[Link] Aeroelastic Model Study
Aeroelastic model tests are used for particularly complex geometries or structures
such as slender or flexible buildings, or where the motion of the building itself may
affect the aerodynamic forces. It is based on the dynamically scaled models of
buildings. Aeroelastic tests are capable of providing overall mean and dynamic loads,
displacement, rotation, and accelerations. Results from aeroelastic tests also include
the basic scope as described in the force balance test, and it can provide more
information than the force balance test.
[Link] Measurements of Localized Pressures
These measurements are mainly used for design of the claddings, which enable the
structural engineer to understand the real pressure distribution on the glazing. These
measurements use the scaled static models instrumented with pressure tap. It is
used to test the mean and fluctuating local exterior pressures on the cladding or
roofs. It can also estimate the interior pressure including fluctuation in the presence
of significant
openings [23].
[Link] Pedestrian Winds Studies
Based on the scaled static model of the buildings or bridges, this test can evaluate
pedestrian level winds. It can study the characteristic of the flow around structure,
the local wind speed and directions for wind environment studies as it mentioned in
the earlier section.
2.8.7 Measures to Reduce the Wind Response
It can be seen that, for tall buildings, due to high wind speed at upper level, tall
buildings are more susceptible to wind excitations, particularly to vortex-induced
oscillations. There are several ways to reduce the wind response, which will be
introduced here.
[Link] Aerodynamics Optimization
It is widely known that the response of the tall buildings under wind loading is greatly
determined by building shapes. Aerodynamics optimization on the shape of supertall
buildings in the design stage is an effective way to reduce the wind response. The
fluid-based aerodynamic modification method can be used to optimize the shape of
the tall buildings.
Research from Refs. [15,24] show that, tapering and stepping softened
corners, tapering and setbacks, varying cross-sectional shape, adding spoilers and
porosity, or openings in the building elevation of the tall buildings can reduce
across-wind responses. However, for a low-return period response with low wind
velocity, tapering or stepping may actually increase accelerations affecting
occupant comfort. Twisting the shape of the buildings can considerably decrease
the maximum across-wind responses; it can also lead to equalized response over
wind directions. Although aerodynamic effectiveness of twisting generally increases
with the increase of twisting level, the increment of effectiveness tends to decrease
with the increase of twisting level and there exists a limit of maximum possible
reduction. One of the examples is Ref. [12], in the design of Shanghai Tower,
through aerodynamic optimization on the building shape, the wind load can be
effectively reduced. Fig. 2.37 shows the possible aerodynamic optimization
methods. There are several methods in optimizing the plan layout, such as corner
recession, corner cut, corner slot etc. in addition to that, optimization can be made
in changing the elevation shape, such as curvilinear form, setback etc.
[Link] Damping Systems
The response of a tall building under the wind loading is also affected by its structural
damping, it comes from the material of structural member of the buildings (either
steel or concrete), it can also come from the friction at joints or movement of the
secondary members. For tall buildings, the structural damping alone is not sufficient
to limit the response of the building to satisfy the serviceability design requirements,
similar to earthquake design, additional complex damping systems are required to
control oscillation due to wind loading. There are three major damping devices that
can be used in tall building: TMDs, viscoelastic damper, and TLD; see Section 2.7 for
earthquake-resistant design for further reference.
2.9 DESIGN TO PREVENT PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE
The event of September 11, 2001 (NIST NCSTAR [1]) sparkled the importance of
designing a tall building under extreme loading conditions such as blast and fire. An
engineer should understand the ways to prevent progressive collapse. Therefore, the
major objective in the design is to pro- vide cost-efficient design to minimize injuries
and improve the probability of survival of people. In the following three sections, the
relevant design and analysis knowledge will be introduced; detailed guidance can be
referred to another book of the author Fu [25]
2.9.1 Design Method to Prevent Progressive Collapse
In the United States, Federal agencies such as DoD [26] and GSA [27] impose
standards and guidance documents to mitigate disproportionate collapse. In United
Kingdom, guidance documents such as British Building regulation [28] and BS5950
[29] also stipulate design requirement in preventing disproportionate collapse.
Eurocode BS EN 1990 [30] and Eurocode BS 1991-1-7 [31] all have particular
relevance to structural robustness. These design requirements can be divided into
two categories: indirect and direct design methods. These approaches are mentioned
here. Indirect design method requires of minimum levels of strength, continuity and
ductility in the design. Direct design method requires that the resistance to
progressive collapse is considered directly during the design process. Alternate load
path method is one of direct design method which is to be assessed on the structure
with sudden removal of critical structural members such as columns to study the
structures’ ability to redistribute the forces on the structure without progressively
collapsing.”
2.9.2 Progressive Collapse Analysis Method
To be able to assess the potential of progressive collapse, four main analysis
procedures based on column removal were included in GSA [27]. They are:
• linear static,
• linear dynamic,
• nonlinear static, and
• nonlinear dynamic.
These analysis procedures can be implemented using the conventional
analysis software in the current design market. They can be summarized as in
Figs. 2.38 and 2.39.
2.9.3 Detailed Requirements in Tall Building Design
In both British building regulations [28] and DOD [26], the selection of the
above design methods is primarily based on the occupancy category of the building.
For tall building, based on the category Table A.1 in British building regulations [28],
it falls into consequence classes above 2b. Based on the category Table 2-1 in DOD
[26], it falls into occupancy category above III. From both design guidance,
requirement on Tie Forces; alternate path for specified column and wall removal
locations; enhanced local resistance are required. British building regulations [28]
also required “systematic risk assessment of the building should be taken into
account all critical situations, correspondent design measures should be taken” for
class 3 buildings. The readers can make a selection based on these two tables
according to the height and function of the tall building to be designed.
In general, for steel structures, connections should be designed for the
relevant tie forces. The strength of column splices (and some other connections) may
need to specify tension as well as compression. Beams restrained by floors may need
checking for twist about their web causing eccentric loading and failure. Important
structural elements such as transfer beams, hangars should be designed as key
element.
Similar to steel, for in situ concrete structures, good detailing should provide
sufficient reinforcement anchored to transmit the tie forces. Transfer beams will
require special consideration and columns should be designed with minimum 1%
reinforcement.
2.10 FIRE SAFETY DESIGN
Fire safety is particularly important for tall building design, especially after the
collapse of the World Trade Centre 7 due to fire. In United Kingdom the Building
Regulation 2010 “Fire Safety, Approved Document B” [32] has The detailed regulation
of fire safety design, which includes the regulations on “Means of warning and escape,
Internal fire spread (linings), Internal fire spread (structure), External fire spread,
Access and facilities for the fire service.” In the design of Burj Khalifa, currently the
tallest building in the world, some special design measures for fire accidents are used,
such as set up a separate refuge room, active fire protection method. It worth noting
that, high-power fans are also installed inside the building, which is used to clean the
smoke in the event of fire and to keep the evacuation route clear [33].
There are three key factors in fire safety design of tall buildings, they are:
• The evacuation route design
• The compartmentation design (fire spread mitigation)
• The structural fire design
In the fire safety design, these three factors are affecting to each other,
for example, when designing the evacuation route, the time of
evacuation is affected by the time of failure of structural members.
Readers can refer to Ref. [34] for further details.
REFERENCE:
Fu, F. (2018). Design and analysis of tall and complex structures.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). High-rise building. In Britannica.