Structural developments in

tall buildings
(Review of literature)

Presented By:
Pavan Patchigolla, Mtech (computer aided structural engineering).
Structural design engineer, METEY Engineering and consultancy, Hyderabad

Contents of presentation:
Introduction
Tall building statistics
Brief history
Classification of tall buildings
Recent developments

TALL BUILDINGS

IT IS ALWAYS GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY PRIOR

ADVANCEMENTS.

TALL BUILDINGS

TALL STRUCTURES IN INDIA

Though they are not used for residential purposes,
India also has the knowledge of tallest
monuments constructed.
One of the tallest and oldest temple structure
known to Indians is locted in Tiruvannamalai,
Tamilnadu.
Indian temples will basically have two major tall
structures called GOPURAS and VIMANAS.
The gopura in this temple is 11 storyed and 66
meters tall.
This gopura was built during Chola dynasty in 9th
century.

TALL BUILDINGS

INTRODUCTION
Rank

Building

City

Height

Floors

Year

Burj khalifa

Dubai

828

163

2010

Shanghai tower

Shanghai

632

128

2015

Abraj Al-Bait clock tower

Mecca

601

120

2012

One world trade center

Newyork

541

104

2014

CTF Finance center

Guangzhou

530

111

2016

Taipei 101

Taipei

509

101

2004

Shanghai world financial center

Shanghai

492

101

2008

International commerce center

Hong kong

484

118

2010

Petronas towers 1

Kuala lumpur

452

88

1998

10

Petronas towers 2

Kuala lumpur

452

88

1998

TOP TEN TALL BUILDINGS

TALL BUILDINGS

BURJ KHALIFA

SHANGHAI TOWER

TALL BUILDINGS

ABRAZ AL BAIT CLOCK TOWER

ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

CTF FINANCE TOWER

TALL BUILDINGS

TAIPEI 101

SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCE CENTER

INTERNATIONAL
COMMERCE CENTER

TALL BUILDINGS

PETRONAS TOWERS

INTRODUCTION
Tall buildings emerged in the late nineteenth century in USA. They constituted a so-called
American building type.
Based on the data published in 1980s, about 49% of worlds tall buildings were located in North
America.
Tall buildings evolved as a world wide phenomenon.

The distribution has radically changed and now Asia countries has the largest share.
Traditionally, function of tall buildings has been commercial buildings.
Tall building development involves various complex factors, such as economics, aesthetics,
technology, municipal regulations and politics.

TALL BUILDINGS

TALL BUILDING STATS

TALL BUILDING STATS IN 1980'S
REGION

COUNTRIES

PERCENT

TALL BUILDING STATS IN 2006**

BUILDINGS

North America

48.9

1701

Europe

35

21.3

742

Asia

35

20.2

702

South America

13

5.2

181

REGION

COUNTRIES

PERCENT

BUILDINGS

Asia

20

32.2

35016

North America

18

23.9

26053

Europe

20

23.7

25809

South America

10

16.6

18129

Australia

1.6

54

Middle east

15

1.5

51

Africa

41

1.3

47

Ocenia

2.6

2839

Mid-America

20

0.1

Africa

20

1078

** Based on most active cities in the region reported in Emporis.com

TALL BUILDINGS

10

BRIEF HISTORY..
Tall buildings are based on economic
equations.
Increase rentable area by
stacking office spaces vertically and
maximizing rents.
The result was the steel frame structure
which minimized the dimensions of
structural members.
The tall building trend started with Park
row building in New York, which is 30
storeyed tall in 1899 and it culminated
with the completion of 102 story tall
Empire state building in 1931.
Park Row building, 1899
TALL BUILDINGS

Empire state building, 1931

11

BRIEF HISTORY..
By the time, there had not been much
conspicuous technological evolution.
Most buildings are steel MRF with wind
bracing. Eg.,Woolworth Building (57S, 241m)
of 1931, Chrysler building(77S, 282m) of 1930.
Their heights were accomplished not through
technology but through excessive use of
structural materials.
Due to absence of advanced structural
analysis techniques, they were quite over
designed.
The technological evolution like different
structural systems and artificially damped
systems started in 1960s.
Woolworth building
TALL BUILDINGS

Chrysler building
12

PREMIUM FOR HEIGHT..

The primary skeleton of a tall building can be visualized as a
vertical cantilever with its base fixed in the ground.
The structure has to carry gravity and lateral wind/earthquake
loads.
The building must be capable of developing adequate shear
and bending resistance due to loads and must not lose its
vertical load carrying capability.
Fazlur khan realized for the first time that as buildings became
taller, there is a premium for height due to lateral loads.
If there are no lateral loads, high-rise building could just
be designed for gravity loads.
Fazlur Rahman Khan, FRK
TALL BUILDINGS

13

PREMIUM FOR HEIGHT..

Based on his observations, As the building becomes taller, the buildings sway due to lateral
forces becomes critical and there is greater demand on the girders and columns that make up
the rigid frame.

Hence the material consumption gets even more increased and would begin to exceed other
structural costs if a rigid frame system is used for very tall buildings, which leads to the
innovation in the structural systems.
Based on Khans investigations, he argued that as the height increases beyond 10 stories, the
lateral drifts start controlling the design, the stiffness rather than the strength becomes the
dominant factor, and the premium for height increases rapidly with number of stories.

TALL BUILDINGS

14

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

In 1969, Khan classified structural systems for tall buildings relating to their heights the efficacy of
the buildings.

Structural systems (Steel) with height, - Fazlur R Khan

TALL BUILDINGS

15

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

Because of better understanding of the mechanics, he reasoned the structure could be treated in
holistic manner, that is, the building could be analyzed in three dimensions by computer
simulations.

Structural systems (Concrete) with height, - Fazlur R Khan

TALL BUILDINGS

16

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

Recognizing the importance of the premium for heights for tall buildings, the classification of
structural systems is based on lateral load resisting capabilities.
Structural systems are classified in to two broad categories: Interior structures and exterior
structures.
A system is categorized as an interior structure when the major part of the lateral load resisting
system is located within the interior of the buildings (Cores, Stair case wells etc..)
When the lateral load resisting system is located at the perimeter of the building, such systems
can be categorized as an exterior structure (tube in tube, framed tube etc..).

TALL BUILDINGS

17

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

Classification of interior structures - Fazlur R Khan

TALL BUILDINGS

18

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

Classification of exterior
structures - Fazlur R Khan

TALL BUILDINGS

19

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

CATEGORY

Rigid frames

SUB-CATEGORY

MATERIAL/CONFIGURATION EFFICIENT HEIGHT LIMIT

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

BUILDING EXAMPLES

Steel

30

Provide flexibility in floor planning. Fast

construction

Expensive moment connections.

Expensive fire proofing.

860 & 880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments

(Chicago, USA, 26 stories, 82 m), Business
Men's Assurance Tower (Kansas City,
USA, 19 stories), Seagram Building, 30th
to the top floor (New York, USA, 38
stories, 157 m).

Concrete

20

Provide flexibility in floor planning Easily

moldable.

Expensive form work. Slow construction.

Ingalls Building (Cincinnati, USA, 16

stories, 65 m).

Efficiently resist lateral loads by axial forces in

Interior planning limitations due to
the shear truss members. Allows shallower
diagonals in the shear trusses. Expensive
beams compared with the rigid frames
diagonal connections.
without diagonals.

Braced hinged frames

Steel shear trusses+Steel hinged

frames

Shear wall/Hinged frames

Concrete shear wall + steel

hinged frame

Braced rigid frames

Steel shear trusses + rigid

frames

40

Effectively resists lateral loads by producing Interior planning limitations due to shear
shear truss - frame interacting system.
trusses.

Concrete Shear Wall + Steel

Rigid Frame

60

Effectively resists lateral loads by producing Interior planning limitations due to shear
shear wall - frame interacting system.
walls.

Shear wall(or shear truss) Frame interaction

10

35

Effectively resists lateral shear by concrete

walls.

Empire State Building (New York, USA,

102 stories, 381 m), Seagram Building,
17th to 29th floor (New York, USA, 38
stories, 157 m).

Seagram Building, up to the 17th floor

(New York, USA, 38 stories, 157 m).

Interior planning limitations due to shear

walls.

Shear wall/ Rigid frames

Outrigger structures

Concrete Shear Wall + Concrete

Frame

70

Shear Cores (Steel Trusses or

Concrete Shear Walls) +
Outriggers (Steel Trusses or
Concrete Walls) + (Belt Trusses)
+ Steel or Concrete Composite
(Super) Columns

150

"

"

Effectively resists bending by exterior columns

Outrigger structure does not add shear
connected to outriggers extended from the
resistance.
core.

TALL BUILDINGS

Low rise buildings.

77 West Wacker Drive (Chicago, USA, 50

stories, 203.6 m), Casselden Place
(Melbourne, Australia, 43 stories, 160 m).

311 South Wacker Drive (Chicago, USA,

75 stories, 284 m), Cook County
Administration Building, former
Brunswick Building (Chicago, USA, 38
stories, 145 m).

Taipei 101 (Taipei, Taiwan, 101 stories,

509 m), Jin Mao Building (Shanghai,
China, 88 stories, 421 m).

20

CLASSIFICATION OF TALL BUILDINGS..

CATEGORY

SUB-CATEGORY

MATERIAL/CONFIGUR
EFFICIENT HEIGHT LIMIT
ATION

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

BUILDING EXAMPLES

Steel

80

Efficiently resists lateral loads by locating

lateral systems at the building perimeter.

Shear lag hinders true tubular behavior.

Narrow column spacing obstructs the
view.

Aon Center (Chicago, USA, 83 stories, 346 m)

Concrete

60

"

"

Water Tower Place (Chicago, USA, 74 stories, 262 m)

Bracings obstruct the view.

John Hancock Center (Chicago, USA, 100 stories 344

m)

Framed tube

Steel
Braced tube

Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial forces in

100 (With Interior Columns)
the diagonal members. Wider column spacing
150 (Without Interior
possible compared with framed tubes. Reduced
Columns)
shear lag.

Tube

Concrete

100

"

"

Onterie Center (Chicago, 58 stories, 174 m), 780

Third Avenue (New York, USA, 50 stories, 174 m)

Steel

110

Reduced shear lag.

Interior planning limitations due to the

bundled tube configuration.

Sears Tower (Chicago, USA, 108 stories, 442 m)

Concrete

110

"

"

Carnegie Hall Tower (New York, USA, 62 stories,

230.7 m)

Tube in tube

Ext. Framed Tube (Steel or

Concrete) + Int. Core Tube
(Steel or Concrete)

80

Steel

100

Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial forces in

the diagonal members.

Complicated joints.

Hearst Building (New York, USA, 42 stories, 182 m),

30 St Mary Axe, also known as Swiss Re Building
(London, UK, 41 stories, 181 m)

Concrete

60

"

Expensive formwork. Slow construction.

O-14 Building (Dubai)

Steel

150

Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial forces in

the space truss members.

Obstruct the view. May obstruct the

view.

Bank of China (Hong Kong, China, 72 stories, 367 m)

Steel

160

Could produce supertall buildings.

Building form depends to a great degree

on the structural system.

Concrete

100

"

"

Steel

100

Interior floor is never obstructed by perimeter

columns.

Thermal expansion / contraction.

Systemic thermal bridges.

Bundled tube

Dia grid

Space truss structures

Effectively resists lateral loads by producing

Interior planning limitations due to shear 181 West Madison Street (Chicago, USA, 50 stories,
interior shear core - exterior framed tube
core.
207 m)
interacting system.

Super frames

Exo-Skeleton

TALL BUILDINGS

Chicago World Trade Center (Chicago, USA, 168

stories, Unbuilt)
Parque Central Tower (Caracas, Venezuela, 56
stories, 221 m)
Hotel de las Artes (Barcelona, Spain, 43 stories, 137
m)

21

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS..

JOHN HANCOCK CENTER,

CHICAGO

FIRST WINCOSIN CENTER,

MILWAUKEE

Structural evolution and

architectural expression:
Some structural systems evolved
have had a major impact on the
aesthetics or architectural
expression of the building.

EXTERIOR BRACED
TUBULAR STRUCTURE
TALL BUILDINGS

BELT TRUSSES
22

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS..

TAIPEI 101

Regional expression:
Expression of building exterior in the way that it
reflects the regional heritage and cultural
traditions.
Taipei 101 represents ancient Chinese pagodas
which means STUPAS in Indian sub continent.

TALL BUILDINGS

23

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS..

KINGDOM CENTER, RIYADH

Aerodynamic forms:
This trend has in tall buildings has started to improve
the aerodynamic properties to reduce the wind
forces carried by them.
Examples: chamfered or rounded corners, openings
and notches, streamlined forms, tapered forms.

TALL BUILDINGS

24

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS..

PHARE TOWER, PARIS

Emergence of twisted forms:

Twisted forms employ for todays tall buildings can be
understood as a reaction to boxed forms of modern
architecture.
Twisted forms are effective in reducing the vortex
shedding induced dynamic response of tall buildings.

TALL BUILDINGS

25

STRUCTURAL FORM..
The system that resists the gravity loading in addition to lateral loading
is called STRUCTURAL FORM.
Factors influencing selection of structural form:

Internal planning,
Material and method of construction,
External architectural treatment,
Routing of service systems,
Nature and magnitude of horizontal loading,
Height and proportions of the building.

TALL BUILDINGS

26

EFFICIENCY OF STRUCTURAL FORM..

Efficiency of structural form depends on proper selection based and height
and proportions of building (to fit for the requirements).
Choice of structural form becomes vital because the wind resistance
increases non-linearly with height.
The efficiency of the structures can be compared by their weight per unit
area.
The floor framing weight is influenced mainly by floor span and is
independent of the building height.
Weight of vertical elements will increase proportionally with height.
It is observed that buildings up to 10 stories designed for gravity loading can usually
accommodate wind loading without increase in column sizes.
TALL BUILDINGS

27

EFFICIENCY OF STRUCTURAL FORM..

Usually, placing the vertical components around the perimeter of the
building leaves open floor areas that can be subdivided by partition
walls. In these cases, floor framing systems also become
predominant in lateral load resistance.
With regard to horizontal loading, the high-rise structure essentially
behaves as a cantilever.
This vertical cantilever may also have number of columns or walls that
are mobilized to act compositely to some extent because of braces or
beams.

TALL BUILDINGS

28

MAJOR STRUCTURAL FORMS..

There are 12 major structural forms that are suitable either for concrete or
for steel or for both,

Braced frame structures,

Rigid frame structures,
Infilled frame structures,
Flat plate or flat slab structures,
Shear wall structures,
Wall frame structures,
Framed tube structures,
Out-triggered braced structures,
Suspended structures,
Core structures,
Space structures,
Hybrid structures.
TALL BUILDINGS

29

BRACED FRAME STRUCTURES..

The lateral resistance of the structures is provided by vertical trusses where in the diagonals together with
girders that form the web and columns act as chords.
Lateral loads were resisted by bracing system of web members and then transfer to the columns.
Bracing is usually a steel system because it is inevitably subjected to tension and compression. Concrete
bracing can sometimes be used in double diagonal system.

Advantages:
Able to produce a laterally stiff structure with a minimum additional material.
Bracings usually have very high stiffness to weight ration hence suitable up to any height of building.
More recently, however external larger scale bracing, extending over many stories and bays, has been
used to produce not only highly efficient structures, but aesthetically attractive building.
Disadvantages:
A major disadvantage of diagonal bracing is that it obstructs the internal planning and the location of
windows and doors.
Diagonal connections are expensive to fabricate and erect.

TALL BUILDINGS

30

RIGID FRAME STRUCTURES..

This system consists of columns and girders joined by moment resisting connections.
The lateral stiffness of rigid frames depends on the bending stiffness of columns, girders and joints.
Rigid frame construction can be used for concrete and steel buildings as well.
The sizes of columns and girders at any level of a rigid frame are influenced by magnitude of lateral force.

Advantages:
Principal advantage is its open rectangular arrangement which allows freedom of planning.
In structures that are dictated by gravity load design, economies in member sizes that arise rigid joint
action tend to be offset by the higher cost of rigid joints itself.
Disadvantages:
Above 25 stories, the relatively high lateral flexibility calls for uneconomically larger members in order
to control drift.
Because of higher girder depth in lower floors, sometimes, it is not possible to accommodate the
required girder depth within the normal ceiling space.
Moment resistant connection in steel becomes very expensive.

TALL BUILDINGS

31

INFILLED FRAME STRUCTURES..

This is most usual form of construction of tall buildings up to 30 stories.

Basic frame (moment frame) can be of concrete column-girder or in steel, which is filled in with
brick work, block work or cast-in-place concrete.
Infill behaves as a compressive strut under lateral loading action to brace the frame that makes
the system economical because it adds to the stiffness of frame.
The strength and stiffness of infill in a frame cannot be predicted accurately because of complex
interaction of infill with frame and random quality of masonry.
The fear of the removal of bracing infills at sometime in the life of structure, the infill action
could be considered in design or not is left with designers discretion.
Approximate behavior of infill can be modelled by Equivalent diagonal strut method.

TALL BUILDINGS

32

TALL BUILDINGS

33