Tall buildings have a unique appeal, even an air of romance and mystery associated with their design. Developments in the last decade have produced many slender high-rise buildings, demanding that particular attention be paid to their complex behavior under lateral loads. Economic considerations routinely call for leaner and sparser designs that increasingly challenge the design professional to come up with safe and economical structural solutions. Existing technical literature is limited and until now there have been no books that deal exclusively with tall buildings. Most handbooks have limited sections, if any, on slender structures and their analysis.
Many admirable textbooks are available that address the design and analysis of building components, such as beams, columns, and trusses. Available books that consider the conceptual design of structures are broad in scope and are primarily intended to promote mutual understanding between architects and engineers. In today's engineering practice it is not unusual for the structural engineer to be called upon to conceptualize schematic options and to provide comparative alternatives before a final scheme is selected. Even experienced engineers find it hard to readily come up with various structural concepts because, other than their own library of experience, very little reference material is available. This book attempts to alleviate this problem by providing a systematic basis for conceptualizing different structural systems and by providing an orderly method of arriving at preliminary structural schemes.
Many admirable textbooks are available that address the design and analysis of building components, such as beams, columns, and trusses. Available books that consider the conceptual design of structures are broad in scope and are primarily intended to promote mutual understanding between architects and engineers. In today's engineering practice it is not unusual for the structural engineer to be called upon to conceptualize schematic options and to provide comparative alternatives before a final scheme is selected. Even experienced engineers find it hard to readily come up with various structural concepts because, other than their own library of experience, very little reference material is available. This book attempts to alleviate this problem by providing a systematic basis for conceptualizing different structural systems and by providing an orderly method of arriving at preliminary structural schemes.
High-rise architecture is continually changing, and prismatic shapes that were once very popular have given rise to terraced, setback, and splayed elevations. Computers have given the structural engineer of today the tools to respond to this changing architecture with daring structural solutions. No longer does the structural engineer require that the building be regular in plan and the interior and exterior columns line up with each other. Although the engineer may influence the locations of certain obvious structural elements, the trend today is to let the architect define the building appearance and then to come up with an economical structural system within the confines of the architect's requirement. This trend has resulted in some innovative and daring structural schemes. Fortunately for the layperson, the result has been usually an interesting, varied, and
sometimes flamboyant architecture that adds to the variety and interest of the skyscapes in urban cities.
Therefore, there is a need today for the structural engineer to be knowledgeable not only about the run-of-the-mill type of design but also about some of the less usual structural solutions. To this end, emphasis is placed in this book on the methodology of incorporating well-established structural solutions to modern high-rise architecture.
Application of the state-of-art solutions which have evolved as a natural extension of the proven systems are also discussed. In attempting to set a stage for the rest of the book, Chapter 1 introduces the evolution of high-rise architecture and its impact on the relative size and locations of various structural elements. An attempt is made in this chapter to lay the general foundation for the understanding of future chapters dealing with specific structural systems and their merits.
Tall buildings are uniquely characterized by requiring that lateral loads be a major design consideration. Two types of loads normally associated with lateral loads are wind and earthquake loads. Today the state of the art in determining the design wind load on a tall building, and indeed to verify the serviceability of the building in terms of comfort to the occupants, is to perform a wind tunnel test under simulated conditions. Chapter 2 deals with the characteristics of wind and their treatment in various building codes. The complex field of wind tunnel engineering is presented in a simplified manner.
Chapter 3 outlines seismic design, highlighting dynamic behavior. Static, dynamic, and time history analyses are outlined, with emphasis on practical analysis rather than on intriguing mathematical manipulations which fail to develop physical understanding of earthquake phenomena. In short, this book attempts to achieve a number of objectives: it is intended to bridge the gap that exists between a novice and an experienced high-rise designer. It systematically introduces the complex issues of conceiving and manipulating design options. The scope of the book is broad, but the author believes that enough in-depth material is included to make this book useful to practicing engineers. It is hoped that this book will also serve as a teaching tool for advanced high-rise structure courses in universities and in advanced seminars.
sometimes flamboyant architecture that adds to the variety and interest of the skyscapes in urban cities.
Therefore, there is a need today for the structural engineer to be knowledgeable not only about the run-of-the-mill type of design but also about some of the less usual structural solutions. To this end, emphasis is placed in this book on the methodology of incorporating well-established structural solutions to modern high-rise architecture.
Application of the state-of-art solutions which have evolved as a natural extension of the proven systems are also discussed. In attempting to set a stage for the rest of the book, Chapter 1 introduces the evolution of high-rise architecture and its impact on the relative size and locations of various structural elements. An attempt is made in this chapter to lay the general foundation for the understanding of future chapters dealing with specific structural systems and their merits.
Tall buildings are uniquely characterized by requiring that lateral loads be a major design consideration. Two types of loads normally associated with lateral loads are wind and earthquake loads. Today the state of the art in determining the design wind load on a tall building, and indeed to verify the serviceability of the building in terms of comfort to the occupants, is to perform a wind tunnel test under simulated conditions. Chapter 2 deals with the characteristics of wind and their treatment in various building codes. The complex field of wind tunnel engineering is presented in a simplified manner.
Chapter 3 outlines seismic design, highlighting dynamic behavior. Static, dynamic, and time history analyses are outlined, with emphasis on practical analysis rather than on intriguing mathematical manipulations which fail to develop physical understanding of earthquake phenomena. In short, this book attempts to achieve a number of objectives: it is intended to bridge the gap that exists between a novice and an experienced high-rise designer. It systematically introduces the complex issues of conceiving and manipulating design options. The scope of the book is broad, but the author believes that enough in-depth material is included to make this book useful to practicing engineers. It is hoped that this book will also serve as a teaching tool for advanced high-rise structure courses in universities and in advanced seminars.