Introduction

1.1 General

From ancient times to present, from great pyramid of Giza to the Tower of Babel, with each

stone and brick, mankind has been obsessed with single desire to touch the sky.

Humans have always built colossal structures to represent their gods that aimed towards the sky,

but today high rise structures represent pride, power, wealth or glory. From old days to the

present – “Burj Khalifa”, main objective has been to overcome the restraint of nature through

human brilliance.

With the introduction of modern methods of construction and facilities specifically elevator that

were initially used in 19th century, high rise buildings became practical. High rise buildings

became preferred way of housing with the development of construction methods and facilities.

Nowadays, it would be practically impossible to picture a prime city without a high rise

structure. They have become major landmarks of a city that signify prestige, greatness, power or

as it is said domination of human mastery over nature itself, faith in technology and beside these,

they have became a necessity for urban areas due to ever increasing population resulting from

the migration of people in search of work or better life style.

Rise in demand of urban space, has driven the mankind to exploit vertical space. But with every

raised unit in height comes a new difficulty to ensure the safety and serviceability of the structure

and comfort of the occupants. In high rise buildings, besides self weight, two other forces that

may play major role i.e. seismic force and wind force. As the height of structure increases the

later one tends to become more dominant than the former. Thus to ensure that safety and comfort
of occupants is maintained, certain guidelines are to be followed which are specified in the form

of codes example IS: 875 (Part 3)-1987.

As research continues to improve the performance of such structures using different methods

ranging from use of alternate system or by the introduction of damping devices to mitigate the

effect of external forces acting on a structure, development or innovations are made, which lead

to the revision of existing codal provisions. The code IS: 875 (Part 3)-1987 was revised to IS:

875 (Part 3)-2015.

This thesis deals with the performance of high rise buildings using diagrid system as per existing

code and revised code under wind load using E-tabs. Comparison between the results produced

using old code and revised code for the same structure is also carried out.

1.2 Definition of high rise building

As the perception of size or air of tallness is a relative matter, while not being consistent with

time and space, a high rise structure or a skyscraper cannot be clearly defined only in terms of

size. And as such there is no accord to describe a high rise building or the exact number of

stories or height to consider a structure tall. Even though high rise building was accepted as a

building type only in 19th century but tall structures have been built from ancient times.

The Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitants (CTBUH) defined the high rise building as

“a structure with a height as such creating inconsistent design considerations along with its use

than those existing in a certain region and time span”.

1.3 Structural system

certain structural elements of a building in way to enable them to bear and transmit acting loads

to the ground safely, thus inducing stability into the structure.

Types of structural systems:

 Framed structural system

 Wall-frame system

 Shear wall system

 Core and outrigger system

 Diagrid system

 Tube system and so on….

1.3.1 Diagrid system

The term diagrid refers to inclined members, as such this system consists of diagonal members.

This system is similar to the framed structure system i.e. it comprises of a frame of beams and

columns but the outer periphery consists of beams and inclined members instead of vertical

columns while as interior structure consists of normal beams and columns. This system requires

lesser amount of material to provide better stability. A typical example of high rise structure with

diagrid system is illustrated in figure 1.

1.4 Introduction to IS: 875 (Part 3)-1987

This code is commonly practiced while designing a high rise structure to ensure its safety and

serviceability against wind load. This code divides the topographic area into different terrains
depending on the height of adjoining structures already existing or the obstructions in the

vicinity.

Types of terrain:

1. Terrain 1: open area with few or no structures of average height less than 1.5m

2. Terrain 2: area with an average height of adjoining structures between 1.5-10 m

3. Terrain 3: area with numerous obstructions of average height greater than 10m

4. Terrain 4: usually consists of urban area with numerous structures of height greater than

25m.

Wind load as per IS 875 (part 3) 1987 is calculated as follows:

Vz =Vb *k1*k2*k3

Vz = design wind speed (m/s)

Vb=basic wind speed (m/s)

K1=risk coefficient

K2=terrain, height and size of structure

K3=topography factor

Fz = Cfz Az pd ............................(1)

Fz= design peak wind load on the building/ structure at any height z,

Cfz= the drag force coefficient of the building/ structure corresponding to the area Az,

Az= the effective frontal area of the building/ structure at any height z, in m,
Pd= design hourly mean wind pressure,

When the wind analysis is carried out by using the design peak load calculated in equation (1),

such an analysis is termed as static wind analysis.

However when equation (1) is multiplied by a factor known as gust factor ‘G’, the analysis then

carried out is dynamic analysis.

i.e.

Fz = Cfz Az pd G

G= Gust Factor.

Where

G= 1+gf*r*√ [B (1+Ø) 2+SE/β]

A structure that does not suffice atleast on of the below conditions is to be examined for dynamic

effect of wind:

 Ratio of height to minimum lateral dimension greater than 5.

 Structure with frequency in ist mode less than 1 Hz.

1.5 Introduction to IS: 875 (Part 3)-2015

The existing code IS: 875 (Part 3)-1987 was revised by making certain adjustments to it

following various studies and research work carried throughout the years resulting in various

developments.

Some of the additions and changes made in the existing code are:
K4= a factor included to consider the effect of cyclonic region.

Even though in the revised edition terrain is also categorized in four categories but the factor K 2

that was governed by the terrain category has minor changes in the form of revised table used for

obtaining its value.

Thus changing the equation for obtaining the design wind speed (VZ) as:

Vz =Vb *k1*k2*k3*k4

With all the variables carrying the same meaning from equation (1), except K4

Similarly Gust factor was also changed through its calculating equation as:

G= 1+r {[gv2Bs (1+Ø2) +Hs*gk*SE]/β}1/2

While the equation for calculating wind load remained unchanged in terms of variables.

Fz = Cfz Az pd G

Fz= design peak wind load on the building/ structure at any height z,

Cfz= the drag force coefficient of the building/ structure corresponding to the area Az,

Az= the effective frontal area of the building/ structure at any height z, in m,

Pd= design hourly mean wind pressure,

G= Gust Factor.

1.6 E-tabs
E-tabs (Extended 3D Analysis of Building System) is a software related to engineering that

serves in the analysis and design of multi-story buildings. It provides us with tools and

instructions for modeling, analyzing ad designing a structure, load recommendation based on

code, static or dynamic conditions under basic or advanced systems can be assessed using E-tabs.

Both seismic and wind analysis can be conducted using this software.