MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS INTRODUCTION The tallness of a building is relative and can not be defined in absolute terms either in rel ation to height or the number of stories. But, fr om a structura l engineer's point of view the tall building or multi-storeyed building can be defined as one that, by virtue of its height, is affected by lateral forces due to wind orearthquake or both to an extent that they play an important role in the structural design. Tall structures have fascinated mankind from the beginning of civilization. The Egyptian Pyramids, one among the seven wonders of world, constructed in 2600 B.C. are among such ancient tall structures. Such structures were constructed for defence and to show pride of the population in their civilisation. The growth in mod ern mul ti- storeyed build ing constr uct ion , whi ch beg an in lat e nin ete ent h century, is intended largely for commercial and residential purposes. ANATOMY OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS The vertical or gravity load carrying system of a multi-storey steel-framed bu ild ing compri ses a sys tem of ve rtic al col umns int erc onn ect ed by hor izo nta l beams, which supports the floors and roofing. The resistance to lateral loads is provided by diagonal bracing or shear walls or rigid frame action between the beams and columns. Thus, the components of a typical steel-framed structure are: • Beams • Columns • Floors • Bracing Systems • Connections Lateral load resisting systems Lateral forces Lateral forces due to wind or seismic loading must be considered for tall buildings along with gravity forces. Very often the design of tall buildings is governed by lateral load resistance requirement in conjunction with gravity load. Hi gh wi nd pr essures on the si des of ta ll buil di ngs pr oduc e ba se shear and overturning moments. These forces cause horizontal deflection in a multi-storey building. This horizontal deflection at the top of a building is called drift. The drift is measured by drift index, D/h, where, D is the horizontal deflection at top of the bu ild ing and h is the heigh t of the build ing . Lat era l dri ft of a typ ica l mome nt resisting frame is shown in Fig. 1.
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The tallness of a building is relative and can not be defined in absolute terms
either in relation to height or the number of stories. But, from a structural
engineer's point of view the tall building or multi-storeyed 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 structuraldesign. Tall structures have fascinated mankind from the beginning of civilization.
The Egyptian Pyramids, one among the seven wonders of world, constructed in
2600 B.C. are among such ancient tall structures. Such structures were constructed
for defence and to show pride of the population in their civilisation. The growth in
modern multi-storeyed building construction, which began in late nineteenth
century, is intended largely for commercial and residential purposes.
ANATOMY OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS
The vertical or gravity load carrying system of a multi-storey steel-framed building comprises a system of vertical columns interconnected by horizontal
beams, which supports the floors and roofing. The resistance to lateral loads is
provided by diagonal bracing or shear walls or rigid frame action between the
beams and columns. Thus, the components of a typical steel-framed structure are:
• Beams
• Columns
• Floors
• Bracing Systems
•
Connections
Lateral load resisting systems
Lateral forces
Lateral forces due to wind or seismic loading must be considered for tall
buildings along with gravity forces. Very often the design of tall buildings is
governed by lateral load resistance requirement in conjunction with gravity load.
High wind pressures on the sides of tall buildings produce base shear and
overturning moments. These forces cause horizontal deflection in a multi-storey
building. This horizontal deflection at the top of a building is called drift. The driftis measured by drift index, D/h, where, D is the horizontal deflection at top of the
building and h is the height of the building. Lateral drift of a typical moment
Shear WallsThe lateral loads are assumed to be concentrated at the floor levels. The rigid
floors spread these forces to the columns or walls in the building. Lateral forces are
particularly large in case of tall buildings or when seismic forces are considered.
Specially designed reinforced concrete walls parallel to the directions of load are
used to resist a large part of the lateral loads caused by wind or earthquakes by
acting as deep cantilever beams fixed at foundation. These elements are called as
shear walls. Frequently buildings have interior concrete core walls around the
elevator, stair and service wells. Such walls may be considered as shear walls. The
advantages of shear walls are (i) they are very rigid in their own plane and hence
are effective in limiting deflections and (ii) they act as fire compartment walls.However, for low and medium rise buildings, the construction of shear walls takes
more time and is less precise in dimensions than steelwork. Generally, reinforced
concrete walls possess sufficient strength and stiffness to resist the lateral loading.
Shear walls have lesser ductility and may not meet the energy required under
severe earthquake. A typical framed structure braced with core wall is shown in
Fig. 2(b).
Braced frames
To resist the lateral deflections, the simplest method from a theoretical standpoint
is the intersection of full diagonal bracing or X-bracing as shown in Fig. 2(c). The
X-bracing system works well for 20 to 60 storey height, but it does not give room
for openings such as doors and windows. To provide more flexibility for the
placing of windows and doors, the K-bracing system shown in Fig. 3(a) is
preferred instead of X- bracing system. If, we need to provide larger openings, it is
not possible with K-bracing system; we can use the full-storey knee bracing system
shown in Fig. 3(b). Knee bracing is an eccentric bracing that is found to be
efficient in energy dissipation during earthquake loads by forming plastic hinge in
beam at the point of their intersection of the bracings with the beam.
The bracing systems discussed so far are not efficient for buildings taller
than 60 stories. This section introduces more advanced types of structural forms
that are adopted in steel framed multi-storeyed buildings larger than 60 storeys
high. Common types of advanced structural forms are:
Framed -Tube Structures
The framed tube is one of the most significant modern developments in
high-rise structural form. The frames consist of closely spaced columns, 2 - 4 m
between centers, joined by deep girders. The idea is to create a tube that will actlike a continuous perforated chimney or stack. 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 gravity loading is shared between the
tube and interior columns. This structural form offers an efficient, easily
constructed structure appropriate for buildings having 40 to100 storeys. When
lateral loads act, the perimeter frames aligned in the direction of loads act as the
webs of the massive tube cantilever and those normal to the direction of the
loading act as the flanges. Even though framed tube is a structurally efficient form,
flange frames tend to suffer from shear lag. This results in the mid face flangecolumns being less stressed than the corner columns and therefore not contributing
to their full potential lateral strength. Aesthetically, the tube looks like the grid-like
façade as small windowed and is repetitious and hence use of prefabrication in
steel makes the construction faster. A typical framed tube is shown in Fig. 4(a).
3.2 Braced tube structures
Further improvements of the tubular system can be made by cross bracing the
frame with X-bracing over many stories, as illustrated in Fig. 4(b). This
arrangement was first used in a steel structure, in Chicago's John Hancock
Building, in 1969. As the diagonals of a braced tube are connected to the columns
at each intersection, they virtually eliminate the effects of shear lag in both theflange and web frames. As a result the structure behaves under lateral loads more
like a braced frame reducing bending in the members of the frames. Hence, the
spacing of the columns can be increased and the depth of the girders will be less,
thereby allowing large size windows than in the conventional framed tube
structures. In the braced tube structure, the braces transfer axial load from the more
highly stressed columns to the less highly stressed columns and eliminates
The bundled tube system can be visualised as an assemblage of individual
tubes resulting in multiple cell tube. The increase in stiffness is apparent. The
system allows for the greatest height and the most floor area. This structural form
was used in the Sears Tower in Chicago. In this system, introduction of the internal
webs greatly reduces the shear lag in the flanges. Hence, their columns are more
evenly stressed than in the single tube structure and their contribution to the lateralstiffness is greater.
WIND LOAD
The wind loading is the most important factor that determines the design of
tall buildings over 10 storeys, where storey height approximately lies between 2.7
– 3.0 m. Buildings of up to 10 storeys, designed for gravity loading can
accommodate wind loading without any additional steel for lateral system. Usually,
buildings taller than 10 storeys would generally require additional steel for lateralsystem. This is due to the fact that wind loading on a tall building acts over a very
large building surface, with greater intensity at the greater heights and with a larger
moment arm about the base. So, the additional steel required for wind resistance
increases non-linearly with height as shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6 the lateral
stiffness of the building is a more important consideration than its strength for
multi-storeyed structures. Wind has become a major load for the designer of multi-
storeyed buildings. Prediction of wind loading in precise scientific terms may not
be possible, as it is influenced by many factors such as the form of terrain, the
shape, slenderness, and the solidarity ratio of building and the arrangement of
adjacent buildings. The appropriate design wind loads are estimated based on twoapproaches. Static approach is one, which assumes the building to be a fixed rigid
body in the wind.
This method is suitable for buildings of normal height, slenderness, or susceptible
to vibration in the wind. The other approach is the dynamic approach. This is
adopted for exceptionally tall, or vibration prone buildings. Sometimes wind
sensitive tall buildings will have to be designed for interference effects caused by
the environment in which the building stands. The loading due to these interference
effects is best ascertained using wind tunnel modelled structures in the laboratory.
However, in the Indian context, where the tallest multi-storeyed building is only 35storeys high, multi-storeyed buildings do not suffer wind-induced oscillation and
generally do not require to be examined for the dynamic effects. For detailed
information on evaluating wind load, the reader is referred to IS: 875 - 1987 (Part -
Seismic motion consists of horizontal and vertical ground motions, with the
vertical motion usually having a much smaller magnitude. Further, factor of safety
provided against gravity loads usually can accommodate additional forces due to
vertical acceleration due to earthquakes. So, the horizontal motion of the ground
causes the most significant effect on the structure by shaking the foundation back
and forth. The mass of building resists this motion by setting up inertia forces
throughout the structure. The magnitude of the horizontal shear force F shown inFig. 7 depends on the mass of the building M, the acceleration of the ground a, and
the nature of the structure. If a building and the foundation were rigid, it would
have the same acceleration as the ground as given by Newton’s second law of
motion, i.e. F = Ma. However, in practice all buildings are flexible to some degree.
For a structure that deforms slightly, thereby absorbing some energy, the force will
be less than the product of mass and acceleration [Fig. 7(b)]. But, a very flexible
structure will be subject to a much larger force under repetitive ground motion
[Fig. 7(c)]. This shows the magnitude of the lateral force on a building is not only
dependent on acceleration of the ground but it will also depend on the type of the
structure. As an inertia problem, the dynamic response of the building plays a large part in influencing and in estimating the effective loading on the structure. The
earthquake load is estimated by Seismic co-efficient method or Response spectrum
method. The later takes account of dynamic characteristics of structure along with
ground motion. For detailed information on evaluating earthquake load, reader is
referred to IS: 1893 - 1984 and the chapter on Earth quake resistant design.
Analysis of the forces in a statically determinate triangulated braced frame
can be made by the method of sections. For instance, consider a typical single-
diagonal braced pinpointed panel as shown in Fig. 8. When this bent is subjected to
an external shear Qi in ith storey and external moments Mi and Mi-1 at floors i and
i-1, respectively, the force in the brace can be found by considering the horizontal
equilibrium of the free body above section XX, thus,
FBC Cos θ = Qi
Hence,FBC = Qi / Cos θ
The axial force FBD in the column BD is found by considering moment
equilibrium of the upper free body about C, thus
FBD* ℓ = Mi-1
Hence,
FBD = Mi-1 / ℓ
Similarly the force FAC in column AC is obtained from the moment equilibrium of
the upper free body about B. It is given by
FAC = Mi / ℓ
This procedure can be repeated for the members in each storey of the frame. Themember forces in more complex braced frames such as knee-braced, X-braced and
K-braced frames can also be obtained by taking horizontal sections.
Lateral stability in two directions approximately at right-angles to each other
should be provided by a system of vertical and horizontal bracing within the
structure so that the columns will not be subject to sway moments. Bracing can
generally be provided in the walls enclosing the stairs, lifts, service ducts, etc.Additional stiffness can also be provided by bracing within other external
or internal walls. The bracing should preferably be distributed throughout the
structure so that the combined shear centre is located approximately on the line of
the resultant on plan of the applied overturning forces. Where this is not possible,
torsional moments may result, which must be considered when calculating the load
carried by each braced bay. Braced bays should be effective throughout the full
height of the building. If it is essential for bracing to be discontinuous at one level,
provision must be made to transfer the forces to other braced bays.
Forms of bracing
Bracing may consist of any of the following:
• Horizontal bracing
–– triangulated steel members
–– concrete floors or roofs
–– adequately designed and fixed profiled steel decking
• Vertical bracing
–– triangulated steel members
–– cantilever columns from moment resistant base –– reinforced concrete walls preferably not less than 180mm in thickness
–– masonry walls preferably not less than 150mm in thickness adequately pinned
and tied to the steel frames. Precautions should be taken to prevent such walls
being removed at a later stage, and temporary bracing provided during erection
before such masonry walls are constructed
–– uplift forces generated from the vertical bracing system shall be adequately
In common design practice and in design guides and manuals, bracing
systems are very often identified with triangulated trusses or with concrete cores or
shear walls which are present in buildings to accommodate shafts and staircases. It
is very common to find bracing systems represented as shown in Figure 1.
The simplification of representing a bracing system by a triangulated truss also
arises because in steel structures, in contrast to concrete structures where all the
joints are naturally continuous, the most immediate way of making connections between members is to hinge one member to the other. As a result structures are
created which need bracing systems in order to prevent failure mechanisms
forming. Based on this simplifying consideration, all the joints of Figure 9 can be
assumed to be hinged. Therefore bracing can only be obtained by use of
triangulated trusses or concrete cores or, exceptionally, by a very strong frame.
In conclusion, a topological definition of a bracing system equates a bracing
system to a triangulated truss or to a shear wall. This definition covers the majority
of actual cases but is not sufficient to clarify the function of a bracing system. For
this purpose a definition based on the requirements of a bracing system is provided
below.
Engineering Definition
A bracing system can be defined as a structural system capable of resisting
horizontal actions and limiting horizontal deformations. On the basis of this
definition, all the systems shown in Figure 10 can be considered bracing systems.
Within one building more than one of these systems can be present. In that case
some systems are more effective than others in resisting horizontal loads, the
others are neglected.
The definition allows a simple frame, and even a column, to be considered as a
bracing system. The column or the frame may not have enough strength or stiffnessto resist the horizontal actions with reasonable sizing of its members (columns and
girders) and then to satisfy the strength and serviceability checks which require
limited interstorey and global drifts. In this case it is necessary to add other bracing
systems to the frame itself.
BRACED AND UNBRACED FRAMES
Introduction
Sometimes the term "bracing system" is inappropriately identified with theterm "braced frame". It is clear that the definitions of the two terms are different.
The word "braced" in the second case is used as an adjective to the word "frame"
and therefore at least two structures have to be identified: a bracing and a frame.
A braced frame is commonly intended as a frame to which a triangulated truss is
The main function of a bracing system is: to resist horizontal actions, and is
derived from the separation of the resisting systems: vertical and horizontal. In
some cases the vertical system also has some capability to resist horizontal actions.
It is necessary therefore, from an engineering point of view, to identify the two
sources of resistance and to compare their behavior with respect to the horizontal
actions. Sometimes this identification is not obvious since the bracing is integralwithin the frame and therefore there is only one structure. However, even in this
case, it is possible to make some assumptions in order to define the two structures
to be compared. The examples given below clarify these concepts.
Figures 11 and 12 represent structures in which it is easy to define, within one
system, two sub-assemblies which identify the bracing system and the system to be
braced. In particular, a structure is shown in Figure 11 where there is a clear
separation of functions: the horizontal loads are carried by the first hinged sub-
assembly (A) and the vertical loads are carried out by the second one (B). In Figure12, in contrast, since the second sub-assembly (B) is able to resist horizontal
actions as well as vertical actions, it is necessary to assume that practically all the
horizontal actions are carried by the first sub-assembly (A) in order to define this
system as braced. In this case the first sub-assembly is defined as a bracing system
if its lateral stiffness expressed by the spring constant Ka is considerably higher
than the one of the second sub-assembly Kb (in this case a braced frame or
system):
Fig. 11: Pinned connection structure split into two sub-structure
Fig. 12: Partly framed structure split into two sub-assemblies
"The frame can be classified as braced if the bracing system reduces its
horizontal displacement by at least 80%" which means that the stiffness of the two
systems has to be compared and the following relationship satisfied:
K a > 0.8 (K a + K b)
or K a > 4 K b
Where, K a and K b stiffnesses of both sub-assemblies
SWAY AND NON-SWAY FRAMES
Introduction
Before defining sway frames and non-sway frames, it is useful to note the
common design practice for evaluating safety of structures against stability. It is
often convenient to isolate the columns from the frame and treat the stability of columns and the stability of frames as independent problems. For this purpose it is
assumed the columns are restricted at their ends from horizontal displacements and
therefore are only subjected to end moments and axial loads as transferred from the
frame. It is then assumed that the frame, possibly by means of a bracing system,
satisfies global stability checks and that the global stability of the frame does not
affect the column behaviour. This gives the commonly assumed non-sway frame.
This approach has led to years of research spent in the field of behaviour of
columns and beam-columns.
To explain the concept of sway, as opposed to non-sway, figures such as Figures 13
and 14 are used. The frame of Figure 13 is considered to be the non-sway type and
the one of Figure 14 is considered to be the sway type. This form of representation,
which is based on common practice and common engineering sense, leads to the
erroneous assumption that non-sway frames and braced frames are perfectly
equivalent and therefore that one definition can be used instead of the other
In fact the seismic meaning of the term "non-sway frame" has no real significance.
It is only valid in an "engineering" sense. There is no structure, braced or unbraced,
in which there are no sway displacements. The displacements can only be small
enough, for particular design purposes, to be considered equal to zero in an
engineering sense.
Another reason for defining "sway" and "non-sway frames" is the need to adopt
conventional analysis in which all the internal actions are computed on the basis of the undeformed shape of the structure. To make this assumption it is necessary that
second order effects are negligible, i.e. no significant moments arise due to the
action of vertical loads on the deformed shape of the structure. This definition can
be shown to be equivalent to the previous one since the vertical design loads cause
no significant moments if their value is not close to the elastic critical load of the
structure.
When there is interaction between global and column behavior, it is not possible to
isolate the column. The column or the frame then has to be assumed to be the"sway" type. Unfortunately, research has been limited in this field and therefore
extrapolation of the same procedures already used for non-sway frames to sway
frames has been used. As a result inaccuracies occur also due to the fact that the
actual behavior is inelastic and is therefore affected by all types of imperfections,
i.e. cross-section, column and frame imperfections. In addition the inelasticity in
the columns prevents the use of the familiar concept of "effective length". The
design of sway frames has to consider the structure as a whole.
On the basis of those considerations, the following definitions can be established
for sway and non-sway frames:
A non-sway frame is a structure which, from the points of view of stability and the
definition of the internal action, can be considered to have small interstorey
displacements. Therefore column buckling is independent by frame buckling, i.e.
the problems can be uncoupled. This definition will be true if the safety factor
against overall buckling is sufficiently large that global buckling can be neglected
when carrying out the check against column buckling. On the basis of this
definition, it is clearly that to be a non-sway frame is not a characteristic intrinsic
of the frame since the safety factor against critical load depends on the magnitude
of the design vertical loads acting on the structure.
Whilst it is possible to define whether a frame is braced or not by evaluating the
stiffness of its members, in order to evaluate whether a frame is the non-sway type,
i.e. second order effects can be neglected, the design vertical loads have to be
known. This is understandable since even a very flexible structure has no second
order effects if the vertical loads are practically equal to zero.
"A frame can be classified as non-sway if its response to in-plane horizontal forces
is sufficiently stiff for it to be acceptably accurate to neglect any additional internal
forces or moments arising from horizontal displacements of its nodes".
"A frame may be classified as non-sway for a given load case if the elastic critical
load ratio Vsd/Vcr for that load case satisfies the criterion:
VsdVcr≤0,1
where Vsd is the design value of the total vertical load
and Vcr is its elastic critical value for failure in a sway mode."
This application rule confirms that the definition of a frame as non-sway dependson the vertical loads. Furthermore it establishes that a safety factor against overall
buckling equal to 10 is enough for considering the problem uncoupled from
column buckling.
FRAME CLASSIFICATION
[i] Braced or unbraced.
[ii] Non-sway or sway.
Braced Frames
A frame may be classified as braced if its sway resistance is supplied by a bracing
system with a response to in-plane horizontal loads which is sufficiently stiff for it
to be acceptably accurate to assume that all horizontal loads are resisted by the
bracing system.
This may be further quantified as:
A steel frame may be classified as braced if the bracing system reduces itshorizontal displacements by at least 80%.
When the above conditions are not satisfied the frame must be considered as
unbraced.
The initial sway imperfections plus any horizontal loads applied to a braced frame
may be treated as affecting only the bracing system.
efficient, both in terms of construction cost and effectiveness in minimizing
earthquake damage in structural and non-structural elements (like glass windows
and building contents).
Architectural Aspects of Shear Walls
Most RC buildings with shear walls also have columns; these columns
primarily carry gravity loads (i.e., those due to self weight and contents of
building). Shear walls provide large strength and stiffness to buildings in the
direction of their orientation, which significantly reduces lateral sway of the building and thereby reduces damage to structure and its contents. Since shear
wails carry large horizontal earthquake forces, the overturning effects on them are
large. Thus, design of their foundations requires special attention. Shear walls
should be provided along preferably both length and width. However, if they are
provided along only one direction, a proper grid of beams and columns in the
vertical plane (called a moment resistant frame) must be provided along the other
direction to resist strong earthquake effects. Door or window openings can be
provided in shear walls, but their size must be small to ensure least interruption to
force flow through walls. Moreover, openings should be symmetrically located.Special design checks are required to ensure that the net cross-sectional area of a
wall at an opening is sufficient to carry the horizontal earthquake force.
Shear walls in buildings must be symmetrically located in plan to reduce ill-effects
of twist in buildings (Figure 16).They could be placed symmetrically along one or
both directions in plan. Shear walls are more effective when located along exterior
perimeter of the building - such a layout increases resistance of the building to
twisting.
Figure16. Shear walls must be symmetric in plan layout- twist in buildings can
Just like reinforced concrete (RC) beams and columns, RC shear walls also
perform much better if designed to be ductile. Overall geometric proportions of the
wall, types and amount of reinforcement, and connection with remaining elements
in the building help in improving the ductility of walls. The Indian Standard
Ductile Detailing Code for RC members (IS: 13920- 1993) provides special design
guidelines for ductile detailing of shear walls.
Overall Geometry of Walls: Shear walls are oblong in cross-section, i.e., onedimension of the cross-section is much larger than the other. While rectangular
cross-section is common, L- and U-shaped sections are also used (Figure 17).
Thin-walled hollow RC shafts around the elevator core of buildings also act as
shear walls, and should be taken advantage of to resist earthquake forces.
Figure 17. Shear walls in RC Buildings- different geometries are possible.
Reinforcement Bars in RC Walls:
Steel reinforcing bars are to be provided in walls in regularly spaced vertical
and horizontal grids (Figure 18 a). The vertical and horizontal reinforcement in the
wall can be placed in one or two parallel layers called curtains. Horizontal
reinforcement needs to be anchored at the ends of walls. The minimum area of reinforcing steel to be provided is 0.0025 times the cross-sectional area, along each
of the horizontal and vertical directions. This vertical reinforcement should be
distributed uniformly across the wall cross-section.
Boundary Elements: Under the large overturning effects caused by horizontal
earthquake forces, edges of shear walls experience high compressive and tensile
stresses. To ensure that shear walls behave in a ductile way, concrete in the wall
end regions must be reinforced in a special manner to sustain these load reversals
without loosing strength (Figure 18 b). End regions of a wall with increased