Structure and Architectural Form of Tall Buildings

Mahjoub Elnimeiri, PhD, PE, MASCE

Chairman cdci engineers international & Professor at IIT
Member of steering group, CTBUH
Chicago, USA

World Map

Meter
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Worlds Tallest Buildings Chart

Impact of 9/11 on Tall Building Construction

elevator system
6-12%

architecture
30-40%

MEP
20-25%

structure
20-30%

Structural Economy, Efficiency and Constructability

Cost of Structure in relation to Total Construction Costs

Dubai, 1991

Dubai, 2003

Dubai, 2007

Dubai, 2007

Dubai, 2007

Dubai, 2003

Dubai, 2008

Dubai, 2008

Dubai, 2008

Dubai, 2008

Dubai, 2008

Dubai, 2003

DUBAI TOWERS AT THE LAGOON

Architect : TVS, Engineer : CDCi

SITE PLAN

Tower29

Tower29

HEIGHT

BUILT-UP AREA

TOWER-01

360 m

120,000 sq. m

TOWER-20

410 m

140,000 sq. m

TOWER-21

460 m

160,000 sq. m

TOWER-29

550 m

210,000 sq. m

PLAN LAYOUT

ATRIUMS

FAADE DETAIL

TOWER SPIRE

GROUND LEVEL VIEW

Tower-01

Height

Built-up Area

550 m

120,000 sq. m

Tower 20

140,000 sq. m

Tower 21

160,000 sq. m

Tower 29

360 m

210,000 sq. m

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Scale, Height

Iconic Form: Twisting and Plan Morphing

Location: DUBAI

Grouping

Constructability

STRUCTURE OBJECTIVE

Preserve the Architectural Vision

Maintain the Structural Integrity

PRELIMINARY STRUCTURAL DESIGN CRITERIA

Dynamic Impact of Wind: Wind-Tunnel, Simulation, etc.

Human response/ comfort

Load Path: impact of geometry

Progressive Collapse analysis (redundancy)

Differential shortening: Composite Materials, Temperature, etc.

Construction Sequencing

Connectivity with Exterior

STRUCTURAL COMPOSITE SYSTEM

Exterior Twisted Braced Tube

Core RC Shear Wall

Out- riggers/ Belt Trusses

Typical Composite Floor

LOAD PATH : IMPACT OF GEOMETRY

Progressive Collapse analysis (redundancy):

Interaction between vertical and horizontal loadings

Appreciable movement both horizontally and downwards

Strategy to ensure stability and stiffness

WIND FLOW AROUND A TALL BUILDING

OVERALL LOADING & DYNAMIC RESPONSE

Cross-wind vibrations are usually greater than along-wind

vibrations for buildings of heights greater than 100m (330 feet)

cross wind

along wind

CROSS WIND CONCERNS

- Accelerations beyond acceptable human tolerance

- Excessive Bending moments and shear forces

TORSIONAL LOADING AND RESPONSE

Two mechanisms :
Applied moments from aerodynamic forces produced by non-uniform
pressure distributions or non-symmetric cross-sections
Structural eccentricity between elastic center and geometric center

INTERFERENCE EFFECTS

Surrounding buildings can produce increases or decreases in peak wind loads :

Building A
Y

increases

4b

Wind direction
V

increases

3b

(X,Y)

+30%
+20%
0%

X
10b

+10% 2b

0%

+10%

-20%

+20%

-10%

8b

6b

4b

2b

-2b

Building B

decreases
Shows percentage change in peak cross-wind response of building B, due to a
similar building A at position (X,Y)

AUXILIARY DAMPING

Visco-elastic Damper
used on World Trade Center buildings, New York
F/2

F/2

Steel flange

V.E. material

Centreplate

AUXILIARY DAMPING

Tuned-mass Damper
used on City Corp Building, New York

y 2 (t)

y 1 (t)

K1

K2
C1

M1

(M2=400 ton of concrete)

C2

M2

AUXILIARY DAMPING

Tuned-liquid (sloshing) Damper

used on Shin-Yokohama hotel, Japan

2R

SHAPING BUILDINGS TO REDUCE AERODYNAMIC EXCITATION & RESPONSE

Determination of cross-wind response

Controlling the cross-wind force spectrum

PARAMETRIC STUDY

Tapering
Softening the edge in plan
Porosity
Twisting
Plan Morphing

FORM GENERATION PROCESS

1. Morph

2. Taper

3. Twist

MODEL MAKING

PHYSICAL MODELS

a. Structural Sketch

b. Structural Model

c. Architectural Model

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

TWISTDOUBLE SPIRAL BRACETAPEREDECCENTRIC TWIST-REVERSING

Brace diagram

Whole Structure

Displacements
Displacements :: DL+LL
DL+LL

Fx : DL+LL

Fx : DL+LL

Displacements : DL+LL
Displacements : DL+LL

Fx : 1 DL+LL
Fx : DL+LL

Displacements
: WLX
Displacements
: WLX

Fx : WLX
Fx : WLX

WholeDisplacements : Whole

Fx : Whole

AXIAL FORCES IN STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

Due To Gravity Load

Due to Wind Load

STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR UNDER GRAVITY LOADS

Axial Forces

Bending Moments

ELEMENTS OF THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

OUTRIGGERS FLOORS 38-42

PRELIMINARY SECTION PROPERTIES

SHEAR WALL THICKNESS AND CONFIGURATION

BUILDING SECTION AND STRUCTURAL MODEL FOR PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

INTERIOR COLUMNS

SUMMARY OF TYPICAL STATIC LOADS

STATIC WIND LOADING DIAGRAM

PRELIMINARY DRIFT RATIO ANALYSIS

Shear Wall Alone

Exterior Frame Only

PRELIMINARY DRIFT RATIO ANALYSIS

Shear Wall + Exterior Frame

Shear Wall + Exterior Frame + Outriggers

TIP DEFLECTION AND DRIFT RATIO

Def = 0.60
Drift ratio = 733 @ Level 100

Def = 0.56
Drift ratio = 786 @ Level 100

Wind X

Wind Y

EFFECTS OF TWIST ON SLAB DUE TO SHEAR STRESSES

Plan

3D View

EFFECTS OF TWIST ON SLAB DUE TO SHEAR STRESSES

Shear Forces at Slabs

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO DEAD LOADS

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

compression

tension

SUPPORT REACTIONS AT GROUND LEVEL

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO WIND X

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

compression

tension

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO WIND Y

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

compression

tension

AXIAL FORCES @ BASE DUE TO DEAD LOAD (KN/mm)

AXIAL FORCES @ BASE DUE TO DEAD LOAD + LIVE LOAD (KN/mm)

AXIAL FORCES @ BASE DUE TO DEAD LOAD + WIND LOAD (KN/mm)

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO STRUCTURAL OWN WEIGHT (KN/mm)

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO TOTAL DEAD LOAD (KN/mm)

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

AXIAL FORCES DUE TO TOTAL DEAD + LIVE LOAD (KN/mm)

Shear Wall

Exterior Frame

AXIAL FORCES @ BASE OF EXTERIOR FRAME

Due To Dead Load

Due to Wind Load

BENDING MOMENTS @ BASE OF EXTERIOR FRAME

Due To Dead Load

Due to Wind Load

SUPPORT REACTIONS

SUPPORT REACTIONS

SUPPORT REACTIONS

HORIZONTAL REACTION COMPONENTS @ BASE

CONCEPTUAL LOAD TRANSFER FROM TOWER TO GROUND

1.2-1.6m

bedrock

bedrock