Structural Systems –

Tall Buildings
 Components of Structural System
• Floor systems
• Vertical load resisting systems
• Horizontal load resisting systems
• Structural joints
• Energy dissipation systems (Buildings
subjected to dynamic load)
 To be continued….
Structural systems
Vertical load resistant Horizontal load resistant Energy dissipation
systems systems systems

Horizontal frame system Rigid frame (Moment resistant

Dampers
(Floor structure) connection)

Vertical frame systems

(Column and hangers) Braced frame

Shear wall

Combination
 Vertical Load Resistant Systems - Floor
Structures (Horizontal framing)
Factors affecting the selection of particular floor systems
are as follows:
1. Dead weight of the floor
2. Capacity of the floor to handle loads during erection
process
3. Suitability for the accommodation of ducts and piping
4. Fire resistance properties
5. Suitability for continuous construction regardless of
season of the year
6. Elimination of temporary shoring procedures
 Structural Systems for Floor Structures

Floor Systems (Structural Behavior)

One-Way Beam and Slab

Two-Way Systems
Systems Systems
 Two Way Floor Systems
• Flat slabs supported by columns
• Slab supported by columns with columns or
drop panels
• Slab of constant thickness supported by girders
or bearing walls (used in hotels and apartments)
• Slab with waffles
• Two way joists (Ribbed slab) – Less dead weight
 Two way slab floor systems

SLAB SUPPORTED BY SLAB SUPPORTED BY COLUMNS

COLUMNS WITH DROP PANELS

WAFFLES

SLAB SPANNING IN TWO

DIRECTION SLAB WITH WAFFLES
 One Way Floor Systems
• Slab of constant thickness spanning in one
direction (used in hotels and apartments)
• Closely spaced joists – Thin slab cast integrally
with narrow and closely spaced ribs arranged
in one way
 One Way Floor Systems

SLAB SPANNING IN ONE

DIRECTION

JOISTS PROVIDED IN ONE

DIRECTION
 Beam and Slab Systems
• Slab is supported by beams (or secondary
beams) which are closely spaced at about 1m
to 4m (used in office and commercial
buildings)
Floor Systems (Type of Building)

Floor systems Floor systems

in concrete in steel

Slabs of uniform
Ceramic
thickness

Reinforced concrete
Concrete joist
(cast in place or
structure
precast)

Metal deck with

Beam and slab systems
concrete cover layer
METAL DECK WITH CONCRETE
COVER LAYER
 Vertical Load Resistant Systems –
Vertical Framing Systems
• Columns (Steel, Reinforced concrete,
Composite)
• Bearing Walls
• Hangers (Tension supports)
• Transfer girders
• Suspended systems
 Lateral Load Resistant Systems
• In case of low and medium rise structures,
vertical load resistant system will be checked
for its ability to resist lateral load
• But in case of tall buildings, separate systems
are required to resist the lateral forces
 To be continued…
Lateral Load Resistant Systems
(Structural Behavior)

Moment Braced frames Shear walls Combination

resistant
connection
Lateral Load Resistant Systems
Concrete Steel

Load bearing Rigid frames

wall Braced frames
Frames Interacting system of
braced and rigid frames
Shear walls
Outrigger and belt truss
Infilled system
frames
Frame-shear Frame tube systems
walls
Trussed tube systems
Bundled tube systems

Mega systems – combination of systems

 Rigid Frames
• Frame with beam-to-column connections having sufficient rigidity to
hold virtually unchanged the original angles between intersecting
members

• Resistance to horizontal load is provided by the bending resistance

of the columns, girders and joints.
• Example: World Trade Center, Osaka, Japan.
World Trade Centre, Osaka
 Behavior of Rigid Frames
Lateral force acts on the building (Shear force and
bending moment)

Shear force is resisted by shear in column (H)

H induces bending moment in columns = (H x h/2)

Columns bend in double curvature

Moment induced in column is resisted by beams

Beams resists the moment by couple induced by

tensile and compressive forces

Beam bends in double curvature

 Deflection Characteristics
Lateral deformation
1. Shear sway (80 to 90%) or shear frame racking
2. Cantilever or chord drift component

Deformation takes place because of deflection

due to axial deformation of columns, beam
rotation, column rotation or deformation of
joint
 Analysis
• Stiffness analysis programs
• Methods of analysis:
1. Portal method – < 25 storeys
2. Cantilever method – 25 to 30 storeys
 Rigid Frames - Limitations
• Rigid frames are not efficient for buildings
taller than 30 storeys because the shear
racking effect is more
• Rigid frames – Economical upto 25 storeys
• Beyond which drift becomes unmanageable
but with the help of shear walls it can be
increased up to 50 storeys
 Braced Frame

• Braced frames are cantilevered vertical trusses resisting

laterals loads primarily through the axial stiffness of the frame
members.
• Bending of columns and girders is eliminated by adding web
members such as diagonals or chevron braces.
• Generally regarded as an exclusively steel system because the
diagonal are inevitably subjected to tension for or to the
other directions of lateral loading.
 Behavior
• Resists the lateral loads through the axial
stiffness of columns and braces
Columns
1. Acts as chord member
2. Resists the overturning moment
(subjected to both tension or
compression)
3. Effect of chord axial deformation
on the lateral deformation causes
flexural configuration (Slope is
maximum at the top)
Girders and Diagonals
1. Acts as the web members
2. Resists the horizontal shear with
diagonals in axial tension or
compression
3. Effect of web member
deformation causes shear
configuration (Slope is zero at the
top)

Combination of flexural and shear configuration also occurs with

flexural deflection as the dominant one
Deflection Characteristics
 Types of Braces
Girders act axially

Concentric Bracing -
Member forces are
axial

Girders undergoes
bending Eccentric Bracing -
Flexure and shear
are induced in the
framing beams
 Types of Braces
• X bracing/Cross bracing
• Diagonal bracing
• K bracing
• Corner/Knee bracing
• Inverted V bracing
 Advantages of Braced Frame
• Girders only participate minimally in the
lateral bracing action-Floor framing design is
independent of its level in the structure.
• Can be repetitive up the height of the building
with obvious economy in design and
fabrication.
 Disadvantages
• Obstruct the internal planning and the
locations of the windows and doors
• For this reason, braced bent are usually
incorporated internally along wall and
partition lines, especially around elevator and
staircase
• Diagonal connections are expensive to
fabricate and erect
Difference between rigid and braced frames

Rigid Frames Braced Frames

Columns are subjected to both Columns are subjected to axial
axial load and bending moment load
and hence the columns are of
bigger size

Design moment for girders is the Design moment for girders is

end hogging moment mid span sagging moment and
hence girders are of bigger size
 Staggered Truss System
• Arrangement of trusses in the staggered plan at
alternate floors
• Floor system acts as diaphragm and transfers the
lateral loads in the short direction to the trusses
• Lateral loads are resisted by truss diagonals and
are transferred into the columns as direct loads
• Hence, there is no bending moment in the column
Staggered Truss System
 Eccentric Bracing Systems
• Eccentric bracing – combination of strength
and stiffness of a braced frame and inelastic
behavior and energy dessipation of a moment
frame
• Eccentric beam elements acts as fuse (limits
the load acting)
• Eccentric bracing systems has good ductility
property
To be continued…
Link • Link undergoes flexural or shear
yielding prior to formation of
plastic hinges/ buckling of
compression members
• Plastic hinges are not formed
and hence all behavior is elastic
• Force from brace acts as
horizontal load as axial stress
and vertical load as shear stress
on the beam
Interacting System of Rigid and Braced Frame

• Core braced frames + moment resistant

frames used in series away from core
• Primary bracings and
secondary bracings

John Hancock Building,

Chicago
 Behavior
• Braced frame – cantilever mode (slope is
maximum at top)
• Rigid frame – Shear mode (slope is minimum
at top)
• Combination of both increases the lateral
stiffness of the entire system
 Outrigger and Belt Truss System
• Outrigger – Structural linking of the central
core (either shear wall or braced frames) to the
exterior columns
• Can be of trusses or wall elements
Components:
1. RCC or braced steel frame core
2. Exterior columns
3. Flexurally stiff horizontal members - outriggers
To be continued…
 Behavior
Lateral force acts on the building (Shear force and
bending moment)

Factors influencing its

behavior are
Core tends to rotate in vertical plane 1. Height
2. Flexural rigidity of core
structure and
outrigger
Outrigger resists this rotation by developing 3. Span of outrigger
tension in windward direction and compression in 4. Rigidity of the exterior
leeward direction columns

They form a couple and resist the external couple

thereby reducing the moment or couple
To be continued…
 Functions of Outrigger
• Outrigger serves to reduce the overturning
moment in the core that would otherwise act
as a pure cantilever
• It also serves to reduce the critical connection
in the structure
• Outrigger takes care of the bending moment
acting on the structure but it won’t carry shear.
Shear force acting on the structure has to be
carried out by the core only
 Additional Features
• With outrigger and exterior columns, effective
depth of structure is increased and hence the
stiffness of the structure is increased
• Outriggers are usually 1 or 2 storeys deep.
More than one outrigger can be used. It
increases lateral stiffness but more than 4 is
not really very effective.
Outrigger System
 Tubular Systems
• Tubular systems was introduced for tall buildings by
Khan including the "framed tube", "trussed tube"
and "bundled tube" variations.
• His "tube concept," using all the exterior wall
perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-
walled tube, revolutionised tall building design.
• Most buildings over 40-storeys constructed since
1960s use a tube design derived from Khan's
structural engineering principles.
 To be continued…

1. Tubular systems can be used for buildings

ranging from 40 to 100 storeys
2. It is suitable for reinforced concrete and steel
structures
 Advantages of Tubular Systems
• Tube structures not only make the buildings
structurally stronger and more efficient, they
significantly reduce the usage of materials while
simultaneously allowing buildings to reach even
greater heights.
• The reduction of material makes the buildings
economically much more efficient and reduces
environmental issues.
• Tubular systems allow greater interior space and
further enable buildings to take on various shapes.
 Framed Tube Systems
• Framed tube structure are "a three
dimensional space structure composed of
three, four, or possibly more frames, braced
frames, or shear walls, joined at or near their
edges to form a vertical tube-like structural
system capable of resisting lateral forces in
any direction by cantilevering from the
foundation
 Components
• Closely spaced columns (6-12 feet)
• Deep spandrel beams
 Behavior
• Interior column takes care of the gravity
loading
• Lateral load is resisted by the combined
bending and shear mode similar to the hollow
cantilever
• Columns will be subjected to tensile or
compressive stresses
• Shear lag effect also occurs in the column
 Trussed Tube System and X - Bracing

• Framed tube + diagonal bracing

• This concept reduced the lateral load on the
building by transferring the load into the
exterior columns.
• This allows for a reduced need for interior
columns thus creating more floor space.
Trussed Tube System
 Behavior and Advantages
• Behavior is similar to the framed tube system
• But introduction of diagonal bracing eliminates
the shear lag effects in both flange and web
frames
ADVANTAGES
1. Increases efficiency and hence it can be used for
greater heights
2. Increases the column spacing at the exterior
face
 Bundled Tube Systems
• Set of tubes are
interconnected with
common interior panels
to form a perforated
multi cell tube
SEARS TOWER
1. Four rigid frames in each
orthogonal direction
Sears Tower
2. Nine bundled tubes
 Advantages
• Shear lag experienced by conventional framed
tube is reduced by the action of interior
frames
• Individual tubes can be assembled in any
configurations and terminated at any level
without loss of structural integrity
Lateral Load Resistant Systems - Concrete

• Shear walls
• Infilled frames
• Frame-shear walls
 Infilled Frames
• Steel or reinforced concrete + infills of
brickwork or concrete block work
• Infill acts like a diagonal strut and thereby
increases the lateral stiffness and strength of
the frame by about 2 to 3 times
 Behavior
• Infill acts as diagonal brace under the
application of lateral load
Diagonal Action of Infill Walls
 Bracing Action of Infills
Bracing action of infills takes place
• By in plane shear resistance
• As a diagonal bracing struts
Use of infills gives rise to
• the high in plane rigidity of walls which stiffens the
frame
• the ductile frames that enables it to undergo much
larger displacements and to carry higher loads
 Shear Wall
• A shear wall structure is considered to be one
whose resistance to horizontal loading is
provided entirely by shear walls
• Concrete or masonry continuous vertical walls
to carry gravity and lateral loading.
• Very high in plane stiffness and strength make
them ideally suited for bracing tall building
 Wall Frame Structure
• Walls and frame interact horizontally,
especially at the top, to produce stiffer and
stronger structure.
• Interacting wall-frame combination is
appropriate for the building in the 40 –60
story range, well beyond that of rigid frames
or shear walls alone.
To be continued…
Wall-Frame Structure
 Behavior
• Frames – shear mode
• Wall – Flexural mode
• Frame + wall linked together by pin-ended
links – Flexural mode at the bottom and shear
mode at the top
To be continued…
 New Structural Systems
• Next generation of tall buildings may go over
460m in height
• With the increased height new structural
systems will be required
• Building has to be planned to satisfy the
human requirements
• Increase in height and reduction in plan area
requires more damping facilities
 To be continued…
• Three new structural systems which might be
acceptable to our present space and human
requirements can be
1. Megastructure
2. Cellular structure
3. Bridged structure