The Loading on a Diagrid - Diagrid - Structural Variety - AE 390

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Diagrid - Structural Variety - AE 390

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Description of the Diagrid

The Loading on a Diagrid

The Loading on a Diagrid

System Components and Functions
Typical Uses of the Diagrid
Limitations of the System
Materials and Construction
Numerical Parameters
Diagrids vs. Other Structural Systems
Bibliography

Structures Variety
Diagrid - Group 14
AE 390
Kristyn Lemons & Lorena Alvarado
October 17, 2011

The loads in a Diagrid structural system are continuous and uninterrupted. This is due to the fact
that the Diagrid structure is redundant with a simple shape.The Diagrid has the benefits of using
the both a hollow tube and a truss system. The way the elements in the Diagrid are angled allow
the forces to flow naturally through the system, which allows the gravity and lateral loads to be

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transferred from the system into the ground. The vertical gravity loads travel through the
diagonal members. However, without the horizontal rings the structure would buckle if only the
triangular shape handled the different loads. A second degree of stiffness is adding to the
system when the nodes of the triangulation are connected in a ring around the structure.

Diagrid Node
The diagrid system offers several advantages in addition to eliminating
perimeter columns. Most notably it optimizes each structural element.
Typically, columns are used to provide vertical-load-carrying capacity, and
diagonals or braces provide stability and resistance to large forces, such
as wind and seismic loads. But Rahimian [structural engineer for the Hearst
Tower] says that diagonals and braces want to participate in the vertical load
transfer, and the columns want to participate in the lateral load under ideal
assumptions in a typical high-rise. In a diagrid system the two functions are

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married, he says. The columns and diagonals and bracings are all one.
- "Landmark Reinvented" by Brian Fortner

Floor Plates Attached to Diagrid

In this picture, notice how the floor plates seem to be randomly attached to the diagonal steel
beams. As long as the floor plate is not attached to the node, then the only load that is
transferred from the floor plate to the steel beam is a gravity load. Also, the Diagrid does not
transfer any loads onto the floor plates.
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