TALL STRUCTURES

INTRODUCTION
Tall Structures has been fascination mankind since early ages. Human beings urge to stand tall which has been expressed through construction of tall monuments, high places of worship in the beginning. Further the invention of elevators, air-conditioning systems etc., have made the living in tall buildings comfortable.. Emergence of new efficient

structural systems, high strength materials, construction technology has

made the dream of scaling the sky realistic for nearly 0.7 kms at present. Scarcity of living space has prompted engineers to conceptualize vertical cities in this century.

DEFINITION:
The tallness of the building is relative and cannot be defined is absolute terms either in relation to height or the number of stories. But from a structural engineers point of view the tall building can be defined as one that, by virtue of its height, is affected by lateral forces due to wind or earthquake or both to an extent that they play an important role in the

structural design.
A building whose height creates different conditions in the design, construction and use than those that exists in common buildings of a certain region and period by the council of Tall Buildings and habitat.

WHY DO WE NEED A TALL BUILDING?

Tall structures have fascinated mankind since They stand as a mark of prestige and civilization. They serve as landmark in the global picture. The increasing demand for shelter is met without encroaching on the agricultural land.

FACTORS AFFECTING GROWTH, HEIGHT AND STRUCTURED FORM OF A TALL BUILDING:

State of Art of Service Systems.

Availability of Material. Construction Technology.

CHRONOLOGY OF INCREASE IN HEIGHT OF TALL BUILDINGS:

Building Name Pyramids Singer Metropolitan Tower Woolworth Chrysler Empire State Building World trade Centre Sears Towers Petronas Towers Tapei Towers Location Egypt USA USA USA USA USA USA USA Malaysia Taiwan Year 2500 B.C. 1907 1909 1913 1929 1931 1972 1973 1996 2005 Height in metres 147 187 206 242 319 381 412 442 452 515 Material Stone Steel Steel Steel Steel Steel Steel Steel Mixed Mixed Use Tomb Office Office Office Office Office Office Office Multipurpose Multipurpose

TEN TALL BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD

Building Name Tapei Towers Petronas Towers 1 Petronas Towers 2 Location Taiwan Malaysia Malaysia Year 2005 1996 1996 Height in metres 515 452 452 Material Mixed Mixed Mixed

Sears Towers
World trade Centre 1 World trade Centre 2 Empire State Building Central Plaza Bank of China Tower Amoco Building

USA
USA USA USA Hong kong Hong Kong USA

1973
1972 1972 1931 1992 1989 1973

442
417 415 381 374 369 346

Steel
Steel Steel Steel Concrete Mixed Steel

IMPACT OF TALL BUILDINGS ON MANKIND:

Living on horizontal cities has a different effect on the people when compared to their life in tall buildings. Many are the benefits that can be listed out as follows

Brightness is ensured because of the height.

Fresh air is available. Dust free clean environment is possible. Privacy is ensured. Noise pollution is made less. Land is used in a better way. A landmark is created.

Stands as a mark of respect (Prestige and Progress of the country)

Generates interest in tourism to the place.

It has also been reported that there are many practical and psychological problems in living of high rise structures. They are mentioned below:
Space and operation of lifts cost problems. Safety of children is less. Does not provide a garden for residence of top floors. Reduces family interaction. The vandalism and crime rate increases.

Fear of failure of the structure is implicit.

Elderly people find it inconvenient to live. Increases traffic problem in the nearby area. Increase in land value. Children feel isolated and their study performance is found to be affected. Due to restricted social space, melancholy is created.

COMPONENTS OF A TALL STRUCTURE:

Structural systems Mechanical systems Electrical systems Partition walls and claddings

Foundation

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS

Systems for resisting Vertical Loads

Systems for resisting Horizontal Loads

VERTICAL FRAMING SYSTEMS:

These systems function primarily to carry vertical loads. In short

they can be called as vertical load transfer systems which may be either
columns or bearing walls or hangers or suspended systems.

LATERAL LOAD RESISTING SYSTEMS:

Rigid Frames Braced Frames Shear Walls Wall frame Structure Tubular Structure

Tube in Tube buildings

Outrigger Braced Structure

RIGID FRAME STRUCTURES: Rigid frame structures consist of columns and girders joined by moment resisting connections. The lateral stiffness of a rigid frame depends on the bending stiffness of the columns, girders and connections in the plane of the bent. The rigid

frames principal advantage is its open rectangular

arrangement which allows freedom of planning and easy fitting of doors and windows.

RIGID FRAME STRUCTURES Contd.,

If used as the only source of lateral resistance in a building in

its only typical 6m x 9m bay size, rigid framing is economic only for
buildings up to 25 stories. Above 25 stories the relatively high lateral flexibility of the frame cells are uneconomically large members in order to control the drift.

Deformations of a moment resisting frame under lateral load

 The point of contra flexure is normally located near the midheight of the columns and midspan of the beams. The connections in steel moment resisting frames are important design elements. Joint rotation can account for a significant portion of the lateral sway. The strength and ductility of the connections are also important considerations especially for frames designed to resist seismic loads.

APPLICATIONS:
Moment resisting frames are normally efficient for buildings up to 30 storeys in height. The lack of efficiency for taller buildings is due to the moment resistance derived primarily through flexure of its members. EXAMPLE: World trade centre, Osaka, Japan 252 m high, 55 storeys.

BRACED FRAME:
Rigid frames are not efficient for buildings taller than 30 storeys because the shear racking component of deflection due to the bending of columns and girders causes the drift to be too large. The braced frame attempts to improve upon the efficiency of a rigid frame by virtually eliminating the bending of columns and girders. This is achieved by adding the web

members such as diagonals or braces. The horizontal shear is now primarily

absorbed by the web and not by the columns. The webs carry the lateral shear predominantly by the horizontal component of axial action allowing for nearly a pure cantilever behavior.

Behavior:
In simple terms, braced frames may be considered as cantilevered vertical trusses resisting lateral loads primarily through the axial stiffness of the columns and braces. The columns act as the chords in resisting the overturn moment, with tension in the windward column and compression in the leeward column. The diagonals and girders work as the web members in resisting the horizontal shear with diagonals in axial compression or tension depending upon

their direction of inclination. They undergo bending when the braces are
eccentrically connected to them because the lateral loads on the building is reversible, braces are subjected to turn, to both compression and tension.

BEHAVIOR OF BRACED FRAMES

TYPES OF BRACES

CONCENTRIC BRACES

ECCENTRIC BRACES

The braced frames can be grouped under above two categories

depending upon their ductility characteristics. In concentric braces, the axes of all members, that is, columns, beams and braces intersect at a common point such that the member forces are axial. The eccentric braces utilize offsets to

deliberately introduce flexure and shear into framing beams to increase ductility

CONCENTRIC BRACES

ECCENTRIC BRACES

SHEAR WALL STRUCTURE:

Concrete and masonry continuous vertical walls may serve both architecturally as partitions and structurally to carry gravity and lateral loading. This very high plane stiffness and strength makes them ideally suited for bracing tall buildings. In a shear wall structure, such walls are entirely responsible for the lateral load resistance of the building. They act as vertical cantilevers in the form of separate planar walls and as nonplanar assemblies of connected walls around

elevators, stairs and service shafts. They are much stiffer horizontally than rigid
frames, shear wall structures can be economical up to about 35 stories.

SHEAR WALL STRUCTURE

WALL FRAME STRUCTURES:

When shear walls are combined with rigid frames the walls, which tend to deflect in a flexural configuration, and the frames, which tend to deflect in a

shear mode, are constrained to adopt a common deflected shape by the horizontal
rigidity of the girders and slabs. As a consequence the walls and frames interact horizontally, especially at the top, to produce a stiffer and stronger structure. The interacting wall frame combination is appropriate for buildings in the 40 60 storey range, well beyond that of rigid frames of shear walls alone.

TUBULAR STRUCTURE:
The lateral resistance of framed tube structures is provided by very stiff moment resisting frames that form a tube around the perimeter of the building. The frames consist of closely spaced columns, 6 12 ft ( 2 4 m)

between centers, joined by deep spandrel girders. Although the tube carries all the lateral loading the gravity loading is shared between the tube and interior columns or walls. When lateral load acts, the perimeter frames aligned in the

direction of loading act as the webs of the massive tube cantilever and those
normal to the direction of the loading act as the flanges. The tube is suitable for both steel and reinforced concrete construction and has been used for buildings ranging from 40 100 storeys.

TUBULAR STRUCTURE

TUBE IN TUBE STRUCTURE:

This variation of the framed tube consists of an outer framed

tube the hull together with an internal elevator and service core. The hull
and core act jointly in resisting both gravity and lateral loading. In a steel structure the core may consist of braced frames, whereas in a concrete structure it would consist of an assembly of shear walls. To some extent the outer framed tube and the inner core interact horizontally as the shear and flexural components of a wall frame structure with the benefit of increased lateral stiffness.

TUBE IN TUBE STRUCTURE

OUTRIGGER BRACED STRUCTURE:

The efficient structural form consists of a central core, comprising either braced frames or shear walls, with horizontal cantilever outrigger trusses or girders connecting the core to the outer columns. When the structure is loaded horizontally, vertical plane rotations of the core are restrained by the outriggers through tension in the windward columns and compression in the leeward columns. Outrigger-braced structures have been

used for buildings from 40 70 storeys high, but the system should be
effective and efficient for much greater depths.

OUTRIGGER BRACED STRUCTURE