Chapter 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 General

This research is mainly focussed on framed tube structures and its lateral behaviour.
Chapter 2 deals mainly on the available structural forms for high rise buildings and
their behaviour due to primarily drift under lateral loads (wind loads). Methods to
calculate the drift due to lateral loads and differential shortening due to gravity loads
are examined.

Ideally, in the early stages of planning a building, the entire design team, including the
architect, structural engineer, and service engineer, should collaborate to agree on a
form of structure to satisfy their respective requirements of function, safety and
serviceability, and servicing. A compromise between conflicting demands will be
almost inevitable. In all but the very tallest structures, however, the structural
arrangement will be subservient to the architectural requirements of space
arrangement and aesthetics. Often, this will lead to a less-than-ideal structural solution
that will tax the ingenuity, and probably the patience, of the structural engineer.

The two primary types of vertical load-resisting elements of tall buildings are columns
and walls, the latter acting either independently as shear walls or in assemblies as
shear wall cores. The building function will lead naturally to the provision of walls to
divide and enclose space, and of cores to contain and convey regions, to transmit
gravity loads and, in some types of structure, horizontal loads also.

The inevitable primary function of the structural elements is to resist the gravity
loading from the weight of the building and its contents. Since the loading on different
floors tend to be similar, the weight of the floor system per unit floor area is
approximately constant, regardless of the building height. Because the gravity load on
the columns increases down the height of a building, the weight of columns per unit
area increases approximately linearly with building height.

5
The highly probable second function of the vertical structural elements is to resist also
the parasitic load caused by wind and possibly earthquakes, whose magnitudes will be
obtained from National Building Codes or wind tunnel studies. The bending moments
on the building caused by these lateral forces increase with at least the square of the
height, and their effects will become progressively more important as the building
height increases.

Because the worst possible effects of lateral forces occur rarely, if never, in the life of
the building, it is imperative to minimize the penalty for height to achieve an optimum
design. The constant search for more efficient solutions led to the innovative designs
and new structural forms of recent years. In developing a suitable system for resisting
lateral forces, the engineer seeks to devise stiff horizontal interconnections between
the various vertical components to form composite assemblies such as coupled walls
and rigid frames, create a total structural assembly having a lateral stiffness many
times greater than the sum of the lateral stiffness of the individual vertical
components.

Currently, several structural forms are used to design concrete high rise buildings to
resist the gravity loads as well as lateral loads. Since it is a tall cantilever projecting
from the ground, the designer has to give more attention to mitigate the drift due to
lateral loads. Therefore this structural form is varied according to the number of
stories of the building and magnitude of the lateral loads.

2.2 Structural Forms

In reality, the choice of structural form is usually strongly influenced by other than
structural considerations. The range of factors that has to be taken into account in
deciding the structural form includes the internal planning, the material and method of
construction, the external architectural treatment, the planned location and routing of
the service systems, the nature and magnitude of the horizontal loading, and the
height and proportions of the building. The taller and more slender a building, the
more important the structural factors become, and the more necessary it is to choose
an appropriate structural form.

6
Buildings of up to 10 stories designed for gravity loading can usually accommodate
wind loading without any increase in member sizes, because of the typically allowed
increase in permissible stresses in Design Codes for the combined loading. For
buildings of more than 10 stories, however, the additional material required for wind
resistance increases nonlinearly with height so that for buildings of 50 stories and
more the selection of an appropriate structural form may be critical for the economy,
and indeed the viability, of the building.

A major consideration affecting the structural form is the function of the building.
Modern office buildings call for large open floor spaces that can be subdivided with
lightweight partitioning to suit the individual tenants needs. Consequently, the
structures main vertical components are generally arranged, as far as possible, around
the perimeter of the plan and, internally, in groups around the elevator, stair, and
service shafts. The floors span the areas between the exterior and interior components,
leaving large column-free areas available for office planning.

In a residential building or hotel, accommodation is subdivided permanently and

usually repetitively from floor to floor. Therefore, continuously vertical columns and
walls can be distributed 0over the plan to form, or fit within, the partitioning.

In addition to satisfying the previously mentioned non-structural requirements, the

principal objectives in choosing a buildings structural form are to arrange to support
the gravity, dead and live, loading, and to resist at all levels the external horizontal
load shear, moment, and torque with adequate strength and stiffness. These
requirements should be achieved, of course, as economically as possible.

With regard to horizontal loading, a high-rise building is essentially a vertical

cantilever. This may comprise one or more individually acting vertical cantilevers,
such as shear walls or cores, each bending about its own axis and acting in unison
only through the horizontal in-plane rigidity of the floor slabs. Alternatively, the
cantilever may comprise a number of columns or walls that are mobilized to act
compositely, to some degree, as the chords of a single massive cantilever, by
vertically shear-resistant connections such as bracing or beams. The lateral stiffness
and strength of both of these basic cantilever systems may be further enhanced if the

7
major vertical elements have different free deflection characteristics, in which case
they will interact horizontally through the connecting slabs and beams.

Within the constraints of the selected structural foam, advantage may be taken of
locating the main vertical members on plan so that the dead load compressive stresses
suppress the lateral load tensile stresses, thereby avoiding the possibility of net
tension occurring in the vertical members and uplift on the foundations. Particular
emphasis is placed in some types of structural form on routing the gravity load to the
outer vertical members to achieve this purpose.

Figure 2.1 - Structural systems for concrete buildings

8
9
Figure 2.2 - Interior Structural Forms in High Rise Buildings
10
Figure2.3 - Exterior Structural Forms in High Rise Buildings
There are wide ranges of structural systems that may be grouped into distinct
categories, each with an applicable height range, as shown in Figure 2.1. The height
range given for each group, although logical for normally proportioned buildings,
should be verified for a specific application by considering factors such as building
geometry, severity of wind exposure, seismicity of the region, seismic design category
assigned to the building and the height limitations imposed by the governing codes.
However the lateral loading resisting system of high rise building may be internal or
external of the building and they are shown in Figure 2.2 and 2.3 with variation of the
height. According to the application of architectural features and the arrangement of
services, these interior or exterior structural concepts become significant.

2.2.1 Rigid-frame structures

Rigid-frame structures consist of columns and girders joined by moment-resistant
connections. The lateral stiffness of a rigid-frame bent 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.

The size of members in a moment resisting frame, subjected to lateral loads, is often
controlled by stiffness rather than strength to control the deflection, especially with
frames of increasing height. The lateral stiffness of the frame is made up of two
components which are cantilever moment and shear racking.

These components can be explained by considering a prismatic cantilever beam where

the deflection is made up of two components; bending deflection and shear deflection.
However the maximum height for an efficient rigid frame system is approximately 30
stories after which the required beam stiffness and column stiffness to limit the
deflection due to shear racking starts becoming excessive.

2.2.2 Braced frame structures

A braced frame attempts to improve upon the efficiency of a rigid frame by virtually
eliminating the large moment transfer of columns and beams. This is achieved by
adding diagonals to the frame and hence triangulating the frame and therefore

11
allowing the applied horizontal forces to be resisted by direct axial forces. The
stiffness of the braced frames therefore is directly related to the axial stiffness of the
diagonals and column. But the disadvantage of braced frames is the architectural
constraints and aesthetics.

The efficiency of bracing, in being able to produce a laterally very stiff structure for a
minimum of additional material, makes in an economical structural form for any
height of building, up to the very tallest. An additional advantage of fully triangulated
bracing is that the girders usually participate only minimally in the lateral bracing
action; consequently, the floor framing design is independent of its level in the
structure and, therefore, can be repetitive up the height of the building with obvious
economy inn design and fabrication.

The location of braced frame is normally limited to the central core areas or the
perimeter facade. The latter is becoming less and less popular as clients demand
greater structural free facade to take advantage of the views. Braced frames within the
core areas are more practical however the stiffness is more limiting due to the reduced
size of the frame. Similar to the rigid frames the stiffness of the braced frame can be
broken into the two components.
Flexural deformation due to the axial extension and shortening of the columns
Shear deformation due to the axial deformation of the chord members

2.2.3 Infilled-framed structures

In many countries infilled frames are the most usual form of construction for tall
buildings of up to 30 stories in height. Columns and girder framing of reinforced
concrete, or sometimes steel, is infilled by panels of brickwork, blockwork, or cast-in-
place concrete.

When an infilled frame is subjected to lateral loading, the infill behaves effectively as
a strut along its compression diagonal to brace the frame. Because the infills serve
also as external walls or internal partitions, the system is an economical way of
stiffening and strengthening the structure.

12
The complex interactive behaviour of the infill in the frame, and the rather random
quality of masonry, has made it difficult to predict with accuracy the stiffness and
strength of an infills frame. Because of the fear of the unwitting removal of bracing
infills at some time in the life of the building, the use of the infills for bracing tall
buildings has mainly been supplementary to the rigid-frame action of concrete frames.

2.2.4 Flat-plate, flat-slab and columns structures

In a flat plate system, the floor consists of a concrete slab of uniform thickness which
frames directly into columns. Two way flat slabs make use of either capitals in
columns or drop panels in slab or both. This is the simplest and most logical structural
form, which consists of uniform slabs from 125 to 200mm thickness, connected
rigidly to supporting columns. This system, which is essentially of reinforced
concrete, is very economical in having a flat soffit requiring simple formwork where
the soffit can be used as the ceiling. This structural form arrangement is shown in
figure 2.4 and figure 2.5 with drop panels and without drop panels in slab.

Figure 2.4 - Flat slabs with drop panels and shear walls

Figure 2.5 - Flat slabs without drop panels

13
2.2.5 Shear wall structures
Concrete or masonry continuous vertical walls may serve both architecturally as
partitions and structurally to resist gravity and lateral loading. Their very high in-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 planner walls, and as
nonplanar assemblies of connected walls around elevator, stair, and service shafts.
Because they are much stiffer horizontally than rigid frames, shear wall structures can
be economical up to about 35 stories.

In contrast to rigid frames, the shear walls solid form tends to restrict planning where
open internal spaces are required. They are well suited, however, to hotels and
residential buildings where the floor-by-floor repetitive planning allows the walls to
be vertically continuous and where they serve simultaneously as excellent acoustic
and fire insulators between rooms and apartments.

If, in low- to medium-rise buildings, shear walls are combined with frames, it is
reasonable to assume that the shear walls attract all the lateral loading so that the
frame may be designed for only gravity loading. It is especially important in shear
wall structures to try to plan the wall allows them to be designed to have only the
minimum reinforcement. Shear wall structure have been shown to perform well in
earthquakes, for which case ductility becomes an important consideration in their
design. The shear wall frame action is shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6 - Shear Wall-Frame Interactions

14
Coupled wall systems A coupled wall system is a special combination of a shear
wall and rigid framed system. Essentially it is a series of very stiff cantilever columns
comprising of wall elements coupled by normally very stiff beams. The stiffness is
normally provided by very short spans. The coupling action provided by the beams
dramatically increases the overall stiffness compared with the corresponding system
without the coupling beams.

2.2.6 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 to 60 story range, well
beyond that of rigid frames or shear walls alone.

An additional, less well known feature of the wall-frame structure is that, in a

carefully tuned structure, the shear in the frame can be made approximately uniform
over the height, allowing the floor framing to be repetitive.

2.2.7 Outrigger-braced structures

This structural system involves coupling the central core elements with the perimeter
structure by a deep beam known as outriggers, at discrete levels up the height of the
building. The efficiency of the outrigger system is dependent on the flexural stiffness
of the girder and to a lesser the axial stiffness of the perimeter vertical element. To
achieve the required stiffness it is common to have a girder of depth equivalent to one
or two storeys.

The number of outriggers and the level they are located, depends on several factors.
On structural grounds alone, the optimum location depends on the number of
outrigger levels utilised, stiffness of the outrigger, and the stiffness of the perimeter
vertical element and central vertical element.

15
The principal advantage of the outrigger structures is increased stiffness offered
without the need to have closely spaced perimeter columns or an external braced
facade. As the stiffness of the outriggers are very high, there is a great influence on the
overall stiffness of the building. Therefore the effective stiffness of outrigger beams is
very important in the design of the outrigger braced building.

Outrigger braced buildings are extended with introducing belt truss around the
perimeter of the building in order to distribute the axial forces generated by the
coupling girders to the other vertical elements. This is very useful in the event the
column cannot take the additional forces without increasing the column size, which
may be unacceptable. So it is more economical to distribute the forces to other
adjoining columns. Therefore the outriggers with belt trusses are one of the most
popular structural systems used in tall buildings. Taipei 101 and Jin Mao buildings are
good examples of outrigger braced buildings.

2.2.8 Tube structures

As buildings get taller, above 50 stories, the stiffness of the central core is normally
insufficient in terms of stiffness due to the small lever arm between the compression
and tension components. To maximise the stiffness it is more efficient to utilise the
perimeter of the building as a tube compared with using the core as a tube. For
obvious reasons one cannot have a continuous wall around the perimeter to form the
tube, however there are two practical options: framed tube and braced tube.

In framed tubes, the perimeter of the building comprises of closely spaced columns
and deep beams at each floor level. For the tube action to prevail, the columns
throughout the perimeter needs to be efficiently coupled with each other, otherwise
shear lag will take place. This can only be achieved by ensuring that the columns are
closely spaced and at the same time the beams are deep to maximise the coupling
action between adjoining columns. A simplistic way to understand the behaviour of
the tube is to consider the perimeter of the building as a continuous wall with a regular
pattern of holes punched in the walls forming the windows.

16
The advantage of the tube is the maximisation of the stiffness. Although this system
has been adopted in famous building such as the World Trade Centre, it has
limitations in the newer buildings as closely spaced columns are not encouraged and
are undesirable.

To improve the efficiency of the framed tube, which can suffer from shear lag to some
degree, a braced tube system can be adopted which involves introducing diagonals
around the building perimeter to minimise shear lag. This form of structure is shown
in Figure 2.7 (a) and (b). The principal advantage of this system is the possibility of
using larger spans between the columns. In terms of real estate value, larger spans
between columns is an important consideration however the presence of diagonals is
still a major architectural constraint limiting the application of this system in our new
skyscrapers.

Further, combination of the framed tube and coupled wall structure are also used in
buildings, having both the systems contribute to the overall overturning resistance.
These types of structures are called tube in tube buildings. Moreover series of tubes
abutting each other are connected in bundled tube structures. Apart from the increase
in stiffness associated with the increase in number of tubes, the efficiency of a tube is
normally increased due to the lowering shear lag effect. Sears Towers and Bank of
China are excellent examples of this structural system.

Another type of structural system is a diagrid system. With the structural efficiency as
a varied version of the tubular systems, diagrid structures have been emerging as a
new aesthetic trend for tall buildings in this era of pluralistic styles.

17
 Figure 2.7 - Exterior braced tube: (a) Schematic elevation; (b) Plan

2.2.9 Core structures

In this type of structure single core serves to carry the entire gravity and horizontal
loads. Slabs are supported either at each level by cantilevers from the core or slabs
are supported between the core and perimeter column, which terminate on major
cantilevers at intervals down the height. This system has the same advantages and
disadvantages as that of the suspended structure.

2.2.10 Hybrid structures

Buildings that are non-regular in shape with large cut-outs etc. vary considerably from
the prismatic shaped forms described earlier. A single structural system would not be
18
viable for this type of building. Therefore, a combination of several structural systems
has to be utilized. In the early period the analysis of structures were carried out either
by hand and or by the use of small computers and the structural form used in the
analysis was limited usually to a single form of structure. Now it is possible to
analyse any building with irregularity with the use of available advanced computer
facilities.

2.2.11 Height to width ratios of high rise buildings

The efficiency of the structural system is often determined by its height to width ratio.
The larger width for any height usually means larger stiffness. This implies larger bay
widths, and larger lever arm for flange frames in framed tubes. The optimum height to
width ratio should be between 5 and 7. Shear truss frame buildings, the width of the
truss should be less than about 12, relative to its height.

2.3 Structural stability

Design for drift and lateral stability is an issue that should be addressed in the early
stages of design development. In many cases, especially in tall buildings or in cases
where torsion is a major contributor to structural response, the drift criteria can
become a governing factor in selection of the proper structural system. The lateral
displacement or drift of a structural system under wind or earthquake forces is
important from three different perspectives:

1) Structural stability
2) Architectural integrity and potential damage to various non-structural
components
3) Human comfort during, and after, the building experiences these motions

2.3.1 Recommended values

Excessive and uncontrolled lateral displacements can create severe structural

problems. Empirical observations and theoretical dynamic response studies have
indicated a strong correlation between the magnitude of inter-story drift and building

19
damage potential. Scholl emphasizing the fact that the potential for drift related
damage is highly variable and is dependent on the structural and nonstructural
detailing provided by the designer (Scholl, 1975.), has proposed the following
generalization of damage potential in relationship to the inter-story drift index ,

1. at = 0.001 ; nonstructural damage is probable

2. at = 0.002 ; nonstructural damage is likely
3. at = 0.007 ; nonstructural damage is relatively certain and structural damage is
likely
4. at = 0.015 ; nonstructural damage is certain and structural damage is likely
Drift control requirements are included in the design provisions of most building
codes.

2.3.2 Drift constraints

Although, the safety of a tall building can be ensured by considering the strength
constraints, the drift requirement, which always plays an important role in tall building
design, cannot be overlooked. In the ultimate limit state design, the second-order P-
Delta effect is prevented by limiting the lateral deflections of the building. In the
serviceability limit states design, the proper functioning of non-structural components,
such as elevators, is ensured by limiting the lateral deflections of the building to a
sufficiently low level. The inter-storey drift at each storey can be calculated as:
dj = j-j-1 for j = 1,2,..., n
where dj is the inter-storey drift at the j th storey; j-j-1 is the lateral deflection of
the j th storey with respect to the (j 1)th storey. The inter-storey drift constraint can
then be formulated as:
dj du for j =1,2,..., n
where du is the inter-storey drift limit, which is equal to hj /500 according to BS 8110.
Part-2:1997, (British Standards Institution 1997), and hj is the jth storey height. The
top drift dT is the calculated lateral deflection of the top storey. The top drift constraint
can then be formulated as:
dT duT
where duT d is the top drift limit and is equal to H /500 according to BS 8110
Part2:1997, and H is the overall height of the building.

20
2. 4 Loads on structures

The structure must be strong enough to resist the many types of physical forces
imposed upon it. The magnitude and direction of these forces vary with the material,
type of structural system, purpose of the building, and the locality. The most obvious
loads are due to gravity action, as caused by the self-weight of the building, snow, and
occupancy. Lateral forces are exerted upon the structure by wind and earthquakes, as
well as by earth and hydrostatic pressure. The lateral forces tend to slide and rotate the
building block, and the wind attempts to lift up the roof; gravity, in contrast, will
counteract and stabilize the structure. While weight and lateral pressure induce direct
force action, movement or deformation (and not applied loads) generate an indirect
action. There must also be distinction between the forces acting on the overall
building and those acting locally upon the individual framing elements. Loads may be
distributed as point, line, or surface loads.

Loads may also be distinguished according to their variability with respect to location
and time. They may be permanent, such as the dead load due the structure itself, or
they may be variable, as is the case for live loads (such as occupancy loads or wind).
Variable loads may be of short duration (such as due to people) or of long duration
(such as caused by movable partition walls and furnishings). While these loads are
fixed in place, car loads, in contrast, are free in location. The duration of the live load
is also of importance for deflection considerations (e.g., creep). Live loads may be
static, or they may be dynamic, as when they cause vibration of the structure. While
the ever-changing occupancy loads are generally static, since they do not change
rapidly, gusty winds (depending upon the stiffness and mass of the building) may have
to be considered dynamic.

2.4.1 Wind loads on structures

Lateral loading due to wind loading, generally dominates the structural system of very
tall building, therefore significantly influencing the overall structural cost. Wind is a
phenomenon of great complexity because of the many flow situations arising from the
interaction of wind with structures. Wind is composed of a multitude of eddies of
varying sizes and rotational characteristics carried along in a general stream of air

21
moving relative to earths surface. These eddies give wind its gusty or turbulent
character.

The lateral wind loading normal to a building face, is directly related to the wind
velocity, which consists of the constant mean velocity (steady component) and the
varying gust velocity (dynamic component). Therefore, a building deflects along the
direction of the wind due to the mean wind pressure, and vibrates from this position
due to gust buffeting, which can be larger than the static sway.

2.4.2 Human tolerance to wind action

Some inhabitants in existing buildings have experienced motion sickness caused by
sway; people feel the movement and sense the twisting of the building. In some
restaurants atop tall buildings, wines are not clear when served because wind action
has caused the sediment to become stirred up. At times, minor damage to furniture and
equipment has occurred; strange creaking sounds from shaking elevator shafts, or
noised from elevators bumping against the sides of their shafts, and air leakage around
windows have been noticed; the unpleasant whistling of the wind around the sides of
the building itself has been heard. In several buildings in the 40- to 50- story range in
New York City, excessive lateral sway, including torsional motion and floor tilt have
made it impossible for people to work at their desks; employees are regularly excused
from work during high wind storms. Strange occurrences observed outside high-rise
buildings also cause discomfort and annoyance to both inhabitants and neighbor.
Changes in local wind character, such as vortex currents formed in the wake of
buildings, have torn wash from clotheslines, damaged gardens, wrenched opened
doors off automobiles, and scattered debris through the air. Some building occupants
find it impossible to use balconies except on totally calm days, because of constantly
turbulent winds on the building face. What is important, however, is the need to
recognize that a concern for human tolerance and the activities to be performed in and
around the building must be a major factor in the design of todays high-rise
buildings.

22
2.4.3 Human perception of building motion

The most common causes of vibration in structures are wind, earthquakes, machinery,
nearby industrial plants, and the various types of transportation. The motions resulting
from these causes can vary greatly in duration and intensity, and there are a variety of
mechanisms by which the apparent motion may be exaggerated.

The perception of building movement depends largely on the degree of stimulation of

the bodys central nervous system, the sensitive balance sensors within the inner ears
playing a crucial role in allowing both linear and angular accelerations to be sensed.
Human response to building vibration is influenced by many factors, such as the
movement of suspended objects, and the noise due to turbulent wind or fretting
between building components. If the building twists, objects at a distance viewed by
the occupants may appear to move slightly, and relative movements of adjacent
buildings vibrating out of phase will be exaggerated. False cues may result from wind
forces causing flexing of glass in windows. Human reaction will be affected by any
fear for the structural soundness of the building, and by any previous experience of
this or similar situations.

2.4.4 Perception thresholds

Based on a series of studies in which subjects were called on to undertake a range of

manual tasks when subjected to a variety of building motions, a set of thresholds for
tall building motions has been proposed. The numbers refer to the different perception
levels defined in Table 2.1, which illustrates how human behavior and motion
perception are affected by different ranges of acceleration.

23
 Table 2.1 - Human perception levels

Acceleration
Range Effect
(m/s2)
1 < 0.05 Humans cannot perceive motion
Sensitive people can perceive motion; hanging objects may
2 0.05-0.10
move slightly
Majority of people will perceive motion; level of motion may
3 0.1-0.25 affect desk work; long term exposure may produce motion
sickness
Desk work becomes difficult or almost impossible; ambulation
4 0.25-0.4
still possible
People strongly perceive motion; difficult to walk naturally;
5 0.4-0.5
standing people may lose balannce
Most people cannot tolerate motion and are unable to walk
6 0.5-0.6
naturally
7 0.6-0.7 People cannot walk or tolerate motion
8 >0.85 Objects begin to fall and people may be injured

2.5 Structural analysis by software SAP 2000 version 12

SAP2000 is the most sophisticated and user-friendly release of the SAP series of
computer program. SAP2000 had been used in the engineering industry for more than
30 years under various names. Initially, it began with SAP, SOLIDSAP or SAP IV
and, followed by its personal computer versions, SAP80, SAP90 and finally SAP
2000. It is a stand-alone finite-element-based structural program for the analysis and
design of civil engineering structures. It offers an intuitive, yet powerful user interface
with many tools to aid in the quick and accurate construction of models, along with
the sophisticated analytical techniques needed to do the most complex projects. SAP
2000 is object based, meaning that the models are created using members that
represent the physical reality. A beam with multiple members framing into it is
created as a single object, just as it exists in the real world, and the program handles
the meshing needed to ensure that connectivity exists with the other members

24
internally. Results for analysis and design are reported for the overall object and not
for each sub-element that makes up the object, providing information that is both
easier to interpret and more consistent with the physical structure.

2.6 Verification of SAP 2000 software by modelling a 10 storey frame

and drift calculation

A manual analysis is carried out for drift of a 10 storey frame and the results obtained
are compared with those obtained with analysis by SAP 2000.

Figure 2.8 - Moment resisting frame with lateral loads

A specimen calculation for drift at the 5th level is shown below.

E = 25 109 N/m2
600x300BM Ig1, Ig2 = 5.4x10-3m4
500x300COL Ic = 3.125x10-3m4
Lgi = 6.5m

25
 hi = 4.0m
(Kg) i = (Igi/Lgi) = 3x0.0054/(6.5)
= 2.4923x10-3m3

(Kc) i = (Ic i/ hi ) = 4x0.003125/(4.0)

= 0.003125m3

(V) i = Storey shear = 100+90+80+70+60+50

= 450kN
The storey drift can be written as follows. [13]

(V)ihi2 1 1
bi= { + }
12E (Kg)i (Kc)i

b5 = 450 x 42 {[1/ (2.4923x10-3)] + [1/ (3.125x10-3)]}

12x25000000

= 0.01731m

Drift of 5th floor level (b5) = 17.31mm

The summary of drift calculation for all floors is shown in Table 2.2

Table 2.2 - Drift calculation results for 10 storey moment resisting frame

bi bi Displacement
Level
(m) (mm) (mm)

1st 0.01455 14.55 14.55

2nd 0.01429 14.29 28.84
3rd 0.01626 16.26 45.10
4th 0.01533 15.33 60.43
5th 0.01731 17.31 77.74
6th 0.01539 15.39 93.12
7th 0.01861 18.61 111.73
8th 0.01478 14.78 126.51
9th 0.01908 19.08 145.59
10th 0.01004 10.04 155.63

26
The frame is analysed using SAP 2000 and the results are as shown below.

Figure 2.9 - SAP analysis window of the moment resisting frame

Table 2.3 - Drift results from SAP 2000 analysis

Displacement bi
Level Displacement(mm)
(m) (mm)
1st 0.01 10.00 10.00
2nd 0.025 15.00 25
3rd 0.041 16.00 41
4th 0.0562 15.20 56.2
5th 0.0756 19.40 75.6
6th 0.0912 15.60 91.2
7th 0.11 18.80 110
8th 0.124 14.00 124
9th 0.143 19.00 143
10th 0.153 10.00 153

27
 Figure 2.10 - Height vs drift in 10 storey moment resisting frame

The variations of drift from both methods are almost similar and the orders of
magnitude are in the same range.

2.7 Summary

The main concept in constructing residential & office building is the minimization of
the building foot print, specially in urban areas. The high rise construction is a very
good solution for that.

When buildings are become taller & taller, the wind induced accelerations are higher,
which is uncomfortable to the occupant. The human tolerance to wind action, both
inside and outside building, has become an increasingly important factor in the design
of high rise buildings.

28
The buildings structural system must be able to withstand the excessive lateral sway
and oscillations. The excessive lateral sway and oscillations must be reduced to the
acceptable limits for human comfort.

This indicates that there is a need to do a research to compare the lateral behaviour of
high rise building quantitatively by changing the structural form. In this research,
framed tube structure and conventional shear wall structure are selected as structural
forms, and the maximum deflection, fundamental period, maximum wind induced
acceleration are compared for 20, 25, 30, 35, & 40 storey buildings.

The framed tube structures are new to Sri Lanka. When the framed tube structures are
used it is important to know the value of the reduction in deflection, fundamental
period & wind induced acceleration. Then it can be identify that whether the reduction
in deflection, fundamental period & wind induced acceleration is considerable amount
or the reduction is very low.

29