TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING

PURWANCHAL CAMPUS, DHARAN

AN ARCHITECTURAL REPORT ON “BURJ KHALIFA”
SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:
SANJEEV YADAV (72-B.ARCH-40) DEPARTMENT OF
ARCHITECTURE

SAGAR MANDAL (72-B.ARCH-36) AR. KUBER SHRESTHA

SABITA GURAGAIN (72-B.ARCH-35) AR. SANJAYA MAHARJAN

ROSHANI JAISWAL (72-B.ARCH-33)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 We would like to thank respected Ar. Kuber Shrestha and Ar. Sanjaya Maharjan
for giving us such a wonderful opportunity to expand our knowledge for our own
branch and giving us guidelines to present an architectural report. It helped us a
lot to realize of what we study for.

Secondly, we would like to thank our parents who patiently helped us as we went
through our work and helped to modify and eliminate some of the irrelevant or
un-necessary stuffs.

Thirdly, we would like to thank our friends who helped us to make our work more
organized and well-stacked till the end.

Next, we would thank Microsoft for developing such a wonderful tool like MS
Word. It helped our work a lot to remain error-free.

Last but clearly not the least, we would thank The Almighty for giving us strength
to complete our report on time.

PREFACE
We have made this report file on the topic BURJ KHALIFA; we have tried our best
to elucidate all the relevant detail to the topic to be included in the report. While
in the beginning we have tried to give a general view about this topic.

Our efforts and wholehearted co-corporation of each and every one has ended on
a successful note. We express our sincere gratitude to Ar. Sanjaya Maharjan who
assisted us throughout the preparation of this topic. We thank him for providing
us the reinforcement, confidence and most importantly the track for the topic
whenever we needed it.

CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION .
2. FACTS ABOUT BURJ DUBAI .
3. WORLD RECORDS .
4. STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS — ELEVATORS, SPIRE, AND MORE .
5. ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN .
6. WIND ENGINEERING .
7. FOUNDATIONS AND SITE CONDITIONS .
8. LONG-TERM AND CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE ANALYSIS .
9. CONCLUSION .
10. REFERENCES .

INTRODUCTION
 Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest structure in the world, at
828 m (2,717 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of
the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4
January 2010.

Figure 1 burj khalifa

The building is part of the new 2 km 2 (490-acre) flagship development called

Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's
main business district. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed
by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect,
and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung
C&T of South Korea. The total cost for the project was about US$1.5 billion; and
for the entire "Downtown Dubai" development, US$20 billion.

FACTS ABOUT BURJ DUBAI KHALIFA

1) Milestones
2) January 2004: Excavation commences.
3) February 2004: Piling starts.
4) 21 September 2004: Emaar contractors begin construction.
5) March 2005: Structure of Burj Khalifa starts rising.
6) June 2006: Level 50 is reached.
7) February 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower as the building with the most
floors.
8) 13 May 2007: Sets record for vertical concrete pumping on any building at
452 m (1,483 ft), surpassing the 449.2 m (1,474 ft) to which concrete was
pumped during the construction of Taipei 101, while Burj Khalifa reached
130 floor.
9) 21 July 2007: Surpasses Taipei 101, whose height of 509.2 m (1,671 ft)
made it the world's tallest building, and level 141 reached.
10) 12 august 2007: Surpasses the Sears Tower antenna, which stands
527.3 m (1,730 ft).
11) 12 September 2007: At 555.3 m (1,822 ft), becomes the world's
tallest freestanding structure, surpassing the CN Tower in Toronto, and
level 150 reached.
12) 7 April 2008: At 629 m (2,064 ft), surpasses the KVLY-TV Mast to
become the tallest man-made structure, level 160 reached.
13) 17 June 2008: Emaar announces that Burj Khalifa's height is over 636
m (2,087 ft) and that its final height will not be given until it is completed in
September 2009.
14) 1 September 2008: Height tops 688 m (2,257 ft), making it the tallest
man-made structure ever built, surpassing the previous record-holder, the
Warsaw Radio Mast in Konstantynów, Poland.
15) 17 January 2009: Topped out at 828 m (2,717 ft).
16) 1 October 2009: Emaar announces that the exterior of the building is
completed.
17) 4 January 2010: Burj Khalifa's official launch ceremony is held and
Burj Khalifa is opened. Burj Dubai renamed Burj Khalifa in honour of the
 current President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed al Nahyan.

WORLD RECORDS
At over 828 metres (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds
the following records:

• Tallest building in the world

• Tallest free-standing structure in the world

• Highest number of stories in the world

• Highest occupied floor in the world

• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world

• Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world

• Tallest service elevator in the world

• Tallest of the Supertall Not only is Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building, it
has also broken two other impressive records: tallest structure, previously held
by the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, and tallest free-standing
structure, previously held by Toronto’s CN Tower. The Chicago-based Council
on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has established 3 criteria to
determine what makes a tall building tall. Burj Khalifa wins by far in all three
categories.

a) Height to architectural top

b) Highest occupied floor

c) Height to tip
 Structural Elements — Elevators, Spire,
and More
It is an understatement to say that Burj Khalifa represents the state-of-the-art
in building design. From initial concept through completion, a combination of
several important technological innovations and innovation structural design
methods have resulted in a superstructure that is both efficient and robust.

a) Foundation- The superstructure is supported by a large reinforced

concrete mat, which is in turn supported by bored reinforced concrete
piles. The design was based on extensive geotechnical and seismic
studies. The mat is 3.7 meters thick, and was constructed in four
separate pours totaling 12,500 cubic meters of concrete. The 1.5 meter
diameter x 43 meter long piles represent the largest and longest piles
conventionally available in the region. A high density, low permeability
concrete was used in the foundations, as well as a cathodic protection
system under the mat, to minimize any detrimental effects form
corrosive chemicals in local ground water.

Figure 2 foundation plan

b) Podium- The podium provides a base anchoring the tower to the

ground, allowing on grade access from three different sides to three
different levels of the building. Fully glazed entry pavilions constructed
 with a suspended cable-net structure provide separate entries for the
Corporate Suites at B1 and Concourse Levels, the Burj Khalifa residences
at Ground Level and the Armani Hotel at Level 1.
c) Exterior Cladding- The exterior cladding is comprised of reflective glazing
with aluminum and textured stainless steel spandrel panels and
stainless steel vertical tubular fins. Close to 26,000 glass panels, each
individually hand-cut, were used in the exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa.
Over 300 cladding specialists from China were brought in for the
cladding work on the tower. The cladding system is designed to
withstand Dubai's extreme summer heat, and to further ensure its
integrity, a World War II airplane engine was used for dynamic wind and
water testing. The curtain wall of Burj Khalifa is equivalent to 17 football
(soccer) fields or 25 American football fields.
d) Structural System- In addition to its aesthetic and functional advantages,
the spiraling “Y” shaped plan was utilized to shape the structural core of
Burj Khalifa. This design helps to reduce the wind forces on the tower, as
well as to keep the structure simple and foster constructability. The
structural system can be described as a “buttressed core”, and consists
of high performance concrete wall construction. Each of the wings
buttress the others via a six-sided central core, or hexagonal hub. This
central core provides the torsional resistance of the structure, similar to
a closed pipe or axle. Corridor walls extend from the central core to near
the end of each wing, terminating in thickened hammer head walls.
These corridor walls and hammerhead walls behave similar to the webs
and flanges of a beam to resist the wind shears and moments. Perimeter
columns and flat plate floor construction complete the system. At
mechanical floors, outrigger walls are provided to link the perimeter
columns to the interior wall system, allowing the perimeter columns to
participate in the lateral load resistance of the structure; hence, all of
the vertical concrete is utilized to support both gravity and lateral loads.
The result is a tower that is extremely stiff laterally and torsionally. It is
also a very efficient structure in that the gravity load resisting system
has been utilized so as to maximize its use in resisting lateral loads.
 Braced Frame SystemReinforced Concrete Corewall /FramS
Structural Steel
Tier 9

Tier 6

Tier 3
ystem

Tier 1

As the building spirals in height, the wings setback to provide many

different floor plates. The setbacks are organized with the tower’s grid,
such that the building stepping is accomplished by aligning columns
above with walls below to provide a smooth load path. As such, the
Figure 3 Lateral Load Resisting System

tower does not contain any structural transfers. These setbacks also
have the advantage of providing a different width to the tower for each
differing floor plate. This stepping and shaping of the tower has the
effect of “confusing the wind”: wind vortices never get organized over
the height of the building because at each new tier the wind encounters
a different building shape.
e) Spire- The crowning touch of Burj Khalifa is its telescopic spire
comprised of more than 4,000 tons of structural steel. The spire was
constructed from inside the building and jacked to its full height of over
 200 metres (700 feet) using a hydraulic pump. In addition to securing
Burj Khalifa's place as the world's tallest structure, the spire is integral to
the overall design, creating a sense of completion for the landmark. The
spire also houses communications equipment.

Figure 4: Spire & Pinnacle Erection and the Pinnacle Lift-up method.
Figure 5: Spire and Pinnacle Erection

f) Mechanical Floors- Seven double-storey height mechanical floors house

the equipment that bring Burj Khalifa to life. Distributed around every
30 storeys, the mechanical floors house the electrical sub-stations,
water tanks and pumps, air-handling units etc, that are essential for the
operation of the tower and the comfort of its occupants.
g) Window Washing Bays- Access for the tower's exterior for both window
washing and façade maintenance is provided by 18 permanently
installed track and fixed telescopic, cradle equipped, building
maintenance units. The track mounted units are stored in garages,
within the structure, and are not visible when not in use. The manned
cradles are capable of accessing the entire facade from tower top down
to level seven. The building maintenance units jib arms, when fully
extended will have a maximum reach of 36 meters with an overall
length of approximately 45 meters. When fully retracted, to parked
position, the jib arm length will measure approximately 15 meters.
Under normal conditions, with all building maintenance units in
 operation, it will take three to four months to clean the entire exterior
facade.
h) Broadcast and Communications Floors- The top four floors have been
reserved for communications and broadcasting. These floors occupy the
levels just below the spire.
i) Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing- To achieve the greatest efficiencies,
the mechanical, electrical and plumbing services for Burj Khalifa were
developed in coordination during the design phase with cooperation of
the architect, structural engineer and other consultant.
•The tower's water system supplies an average of 946,000 litres
(250,000 gallons) of water daily
•At peak cooling, Burj Khalifa will require about 10,000 tons of cooling,
equal to the cooling capacity provided by about 10,000 tons of melting
ice
•Dubai's hot, humid climate combined with the building's cooling
requirements creates a significant amount of condensation. This water is
collected and drained in a separate piping system to a holding tank in
the basement car park
•The condensate collection system provides about 15 million gallons of
supplement water per year, equal to about 20 Olympic-sized swimming
pools
•The tower's peak electrical demand is 36mW, equal to about 360,000
100 Watt bulbs operating simultaneously
j) Fire Safety- Fire safety and speed of evacuation were prime factors in
the design of Burj Khalifa. Concrete surrounds all stairwells and the
building service and fireman's elevator will have a capacity of 5,500 kg
and will be the world's tallest service elevator. Since people can't
reasonably be expected to walk down 160 floors, there are pressurized,
air-conditioned refuge areas located approximately every 25 floors.
k) Elevators & Lifts- Burj Khalifa will be home to 57 elevators and 8
escalators. The building service/fireman's elevator will have a capacity of
5,500 kg and will be the world's tallest service elevator. Burj Khalifa will
be the first mega-high rise in which certain elevators will be
 programmed to permit controlled evacuation for certain fire or security
events. Burj Khalifa's Observatory elevators are double deck cabs with a
capacity for 12-14 people per cab. Traveling at 10 meters per second,
they will have the world's longest travel distance from lowest to highest
stop.

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

While it is superlative in every respect, it is the unique design of Burj Khalifa that
truly sets it apart. The center piece of this new world capital attracted the world's
most esteemed designers to an invited design competition. Ultimately, the honor
of designing the world's tallest tower was awarded the global leader in creating
ultra-tall structures, the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)
with Adrian Smith FAIA, RIBA, consulting design Partner. The selected design was
subject to an extensive peer review program to confirm the safety and
effectiveness of the structural systems. The design of Burj Khalifa is derived from
patterning systems embodied in Islamic architecture. According to the structural
engineer, Bill Baker of SOM, the building's design incorporates cultural and
historical elements particular to the region. The Y-shaped plan is ideal for
residential and hotel usage, with the wings allowing maximum outward views and
inward natural light. The design architect, Adrian Smith, has said the triple lobed
footprint of the building was inspired by the flower Hymenocallis. The tower is
composed of three elements arranged around a central core. As the tower rises
from the flat desert base, setbacks occur at each element in an upward spiraling
pattern, decreasing the cross section of the tower as it reaches toward the sky.
There are 27 terraces in Burj khalifa. At the top, the central core emerges and is
sculpted to form a finishing spire. A Y-shaped floor plan maximizes views of the
Persian Gulf. Viewed from above or from the base, the form also evokes the
onion domes of Islamic architecture. During the design process, engineers rotated
the building 120 degrees from its original layout to reduce stress from prevailing
winds. The spire of Burj Khalifa is composed of more than 4,000 tons (4,400 short
tons; 3,900 long tons) of structural steel. The central pinnacle pipe weighing 350
tons (390 short tons; 340 long tons) was constructed from inside the building and
jacked to its full height of over 200 m (660 ft) using a strand jack system. The spire
also houses communications equipment. More than 1,000 pieces of art will adorn
the interiors of Burj Khalifa, while the residential lobby of Burj Khalifa will display
the work of Jaume Plensa, featuring 196 bronze and brass alloy cymbals
representing the 196 countries of the world. The visitors in this lobby will be able
to hear a distinct timbre as the cymbals, plated with 18-carat gold, are struck by
dripping water, intended to mimic the sound of water falling on leaves. The
exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa consists of 142,000 m2 (1,528,000 sq ft) of
reflective glazing, and aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels with
vertical tubular fins. The cladding system is designed to withstand Dubai's
extreme summer temperatures. Over 26,000 glass panels were used in the
exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa. Over 300 cladding specialists from China were
brought in for the cladding work on the tower.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

The goal of the Burj Dubai Tower is not simply to be the world's highest building;
it's to embody the world's highest aspirations. The 280 000 m 2 (3 000 000 ft2)
reinforced concrete multi-use tower is utilized for retail, a Giorgio Armani Hotel,
residential and office. Designers purposely shaped the structural concrete Burj
Dubai ('Y' shaped in plan) to reduce the wind forces on the tower, as well as to
keep the structure simple and foster constructability. The structural system can
be described as a 'buttressed' core. Each wing, with its own high-performance
concrete corridor walls and perimeter columns, buttresses the others via a six-
sided central core, or hexagonal hub. The result is a tower that is extremely stiff
laterally and torsionally. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) applied a rigorous
geometry to the tower that aligned all the common central core, wall, and column
elements.
Each tier of the building sets back in a spiral stepping pattern up the building. The
setbacks are organized with the tower's grid, such that the building stepping is
accomplished by aligning columns above with walls below to provide a smooth
load path. This allows the construction to proceed without the normal difficulties
associated with column transfers. The setbacks are organized such that the
tower's width changes at each setback. The advantage of the stepping and
shaping is to 'confuse the wind'. The wind vortexes never get organized because
at each new tier the wind encounters a different building shape.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

The center hexagonal reinforced concrete core walls provide the torsional
resistance of the structure similar to a closed tube or axle. The center hexagonal
walls are buttressed by the wing walls and hammerhead walls, which behave as
the webs and flanges of a beam to resist the wind shears and moments.
Outriggers at the mechanical floors allow the columns to participate in the lateral
load resistance of the structure; hence, all of the vertical concrete is utilized to
support both gravity and lateral loads. The wall concrete specified strengths
ranged from C80 to C60 cube strength and utilized Portland cement and fly ash.
Local aggregates were utilized for the concrete mix design. The C80 concrete for
the lower portion of the structure had a specified Young's elastic modulus of 43
800 N/mm2 (6350 ksi) at 90 days. The wall and column sizes were optimized using
virtual work/LaGrange multiplier methodology, which results in a very efficient
structure. The reinforced concrete structure was designed in accordance with the
requirements of ACI 318-02 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.
The wall thicknesses and column sizes were fine tuned to reduce the effects of
creep and shrinkage on the individual elements which compose the structure. To
reduce the effects of differential column shortening, due to creep, between the
perimeter columns and interior walls, the perimeter columns were sized such that
the self-weight gravity stress on the perimeter columns matched the stress on the
interior corridor walls. The five sets of outriggers, distributed up the building, tie
all the vertical load- carrying elements together, further ensuring uniform gravity
stresses, hence reducing differential creep movements. Since the shrinkage in
concrete occurs more quickly in thinner walls or columns, the perimeter column
thickness of 600 mm (24 in.) matched the typical corridor wall thickness (similar
volume-to-surface ratios) (Figure 4b) to ensure the columns and walls will
generally shorten at the same rate due to concrete shrinkage. The top section of
the tower consists of a structural steel spire utilizing a diagonally braced lateral
system. The structural steel spire was designed for gravity, wind, seismic and
fatigue in accordance with the requirements of AISC Load and Resistance Factor
Design Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (1999). The exterior exposed
steel is protected with a flame-applied aluminum finish. The structure was
analyzed for gravity (including P-A analysis), wind, and seismic loads using ETABS
version 84. The three-dimensional analysis model consisted of the reinforced
concrete walls, link beams, slabs, raft, piles, and the spire structural steel system
(Figure 4).
The reinforced concrete structure was designed in accordance with the
requirements of ACI 318- 02 (American Concrete Institute) Building Code
Requirements for Structural Concrete. The Dubai Municipality (DM) specifies
Dubai as a UBC97 Zone 2a seismic region (with a seismic zone factor Z = 015 and
soil profile Sc). The seismic analysis consisted of a site-specific response spectra
analysis. Seismic loads did govern the design of the reinforced concrete podium
buildings and the tower structural steel spire. Dr. Max Irvine (with Structural
Mechanics & Dynamics Consulting Engineers) developed site-specific seismic
reports for the project, including a seismic hazard analysis. The potential for
liquefaction was investigated based on several methods; it was determined that
liquefaction is not considered to have any structural implications for the deep-
seated tower foundations.
 WIND ENGINEERING
For a building of this height and slenderness, wind forces and the resulting
motions in the upper levels become dominant factors in the structural design. An
extensive program of wind tunnel tests and other studies were undertaken
(Figure 11). The wind tunnel program included rigid- model force balance tests,
full multi-degree of freedom aeroelastic model studies, measurements of
localized pressures, pedestrian wind environment studies, and wind climatic
studies. Wind tunnel models account for the cross-wind effects of wind-induced
vortex shedding on the build- ing (Figure 12). The aeroelastic and force balance
studies used models mostly at 1 : 500 scale.

Figure 4 wind test

To determine the wind loading on the main structure, wind tunnel tests were
undertaken early in the design using the high-frequency force-balance technique.
The wind tunnel data were then combined with the dynamic properties of the
tower in order to compute the tower's dynamic response and the overall effective
wind force distributions at full scale. For the Burj Dubai the results of the force
balance tests were used as early input for the structural design and detailed
shape of the tower and allowed parametric studies to be undertaken on the
effects of varying the tower's stiffness and mass distribution. The building has
essentially six important wind directions. The principal wind directions are when
the wind is blowing into the 'nose'/'cutwater' of each of the three wings (Nose A,
Nose B, and Nose C). The other three directions are when the wind blows in
between two wings, termed the 'tail' directions (Tail A, Tail B, and Tail C). It was
noticed that the force spectra for different wind directions showed less excitation
in the important frequency range for winds impacting the pointed or nose end of
a wing (Figure 13) than from the opposite direction (tail). This was borne in mind
when selecting the orientation of the tower relative to the most frequent strong
wind directions for Dubai and the direction of the set backs.

Several rounds of force balance tests were undertaken as the geometry of the
tower evolved and was refined architecturally. The three wings set back in a
clockwise sequence, with the A wing setting back first. After each round of wind
tunnel testing, the data were analyzed and the building was reshaped to minimize
wind effects and accommodate unrelated changes in the client's program. In
general, the number and spacing of the setbacks changed as did the shape of
wings. This process resulted in a substantial reduction in wind forces on the tower
by 'confusing' the wind (Figure 13) by encouraging disorganized vortex shedding
over the height of the tower. Towards the end of design more accurate
aeroelastic model tests were initiated. An aeroelastic model is flexible in the same
manner as the real building, with properly scaled stiffness, mass and damping.
The aeroelastic tests were able to model several of the higher translational modes
of vibration. These higher modes dominated the structural response and design of
the tower except at the very base, where the fundamental modes controlled.
Based on the results of the aeroelastic models, the predicted building motions are
within the ISO standard recommended values without the need for auxiliary
damping.

FOUNDATIONS AND SITE CONDITIONS

The tower foundations consist of a pile-supported raft. The solid reinforced
concrete raft is 3-7 m (12 ft) thick and was poured utilizing C50 (cube strength)
self-consolidating concrete (SCC). In addition to the standard cube tests, the raft
concrete was field tested prior to placement by flow table (Figure 6), L-box, V-box,
and temperature. The raft was constructed in four separate pours (three wings
and the center core). Reinforcement was typically at 300 mm spacing in the raft,
and arranged such that every 10th bar in each direction was omitted, resulting in
a series of 'pour enhancement strips' throughout the raft at which 600 mm x 600
mm openings at regular intervals facilitated access and concrete placement. The
tower raft is 3.7 m (12 ft) thick and therefore, in addition to durability, limiting
peak temperature was an important consideration. The 50 MPa raft mix
incorporated 40% fly ash and a water cement ratio of 0-34. Giant placement test
cubes of the raft concrete, 3.7 m (12 ft) on a side were test poured to verify the
placement procedures and monitor the concrete temperature rise.

The tower raft is supported by 194 bored cast-in-place piles. The piles are 15 m in
diameter and approximately 43 m long, with a design capacity of 3000 tonnes
each. The tower pile load test supported over 6000 tonnes (Figure 9). The C60
(cube strength) SCC concrete was placed by the tremie method utilizing polymer
slurry. The friction piles are supported in the naturally cemented calcisilt-
ite/conglomeritic calcisiltite formations, developing an ultimate pile skin friction
of 250-350 kPa (2-6-3-6 tons/ft2). When the rebar cage was placed in the piles,
special attention was paid to orient the rebar cage such that the raft bottom rebar
could be threaded through the numerous pile rebar cages without interruption,
which greatly simplified the raft construction.
 Figure 5 Burj Dubai foundation slab piling

The site geotechnical investigation consisted of the following phases: Phase 1: 23

boreholes (three with pressure meter testing) with depths up to 90 m; Phase 2:
three boreholes drilled with cross-hole geophysics; Phase 3: six boreholes (two
with pressure meter testing) with depths up to 60m. Phase 4: one borehole with
cross-hole and down-hole geophysics; depth = 140 m. UK) based on the results of
the geotechnical investigation and the pile load test results. It was determined the
maximum long-term settlement over time would be about a maximum of 80 mm
(3.1 in.). This settlement would be a gradual curvature of the top of grade over
the entire large site. When the construction was at Level 135, the average
foundation settlement was 30 mm (1.2 in.).The groundwater in which the Burj
Dubai substructure is constructed is particularly severe, with chloride
concentrations of up to 4-5% and sulfates of up to 0-6%. The chloride and sulfate
concentrations found in the groundwater are even higher than the concentrations
in sea water. Accordingly, the primary consideration in designing the piles and raft
foundation was durability. The concrete mix for the piles was a 60 MPa mix based
on a triple blend with 25% fly ash, 7% silica fume, and a water: cement ratio of 0-
32. The concrete was also designed as a fully self- consolidating concrete,
incorporating a viscosity-modifying admixture with a slump flow of 675 ± 75 mm
to limit the possibility of defects during construction. Owing to the aggressive
conditions present due to the extremely corrosive ground water, a rigorous
program of anti-corrosion measures was required to ensure the durability of the
foundations. Measures implemented included specialized waterproofing systems,
increased concrete cover, the addition of corrosion inhibitors to the concrete mix,
stringent crack control design criteria, and an impressed current cathodic
protection system utilizing titanium mesh.

LONG-TERM AND CONSTRUCTION

SEQUENCE ANALYSIS
Historically, engineers have typically determined the behavior of concrete
structures using linear-elastic finite element analysis and/or summations of
vertical column loads. As building height increases, the results of such
conventional analysis may increasingly diverge from actual behavior. Long-term,
time-dependant deformations in response to construction sequence, creep, and
shrinkage can cause redistribution of forces and gravity-induced sidesway that
would not be detected by conventional methods. When the time-dependant
effects of construction, creep, shrinkage, variation of concrete stiffness with time,
sequential loading, and foundation settlements are not considered, the predicted
forces and deflections may be inaccurate. To account for these time-dependent
concrete effects in the Burj Dubai Tower structure, a comprehensive construction
sequence analysis incorporating the effects of creep and shrinkage was utilized to
study the time-dependent behavior of the structure. The creep and shrinkage
prediction approach is based on the Gardner-Lockman GL2000 (Gardner, 2004)
model with additional equations to incorporate the effects of reinforcement and
complex loading history. Construction sequence analysis procedures The time-
dependent effects of creep, shrinkage, the variation of concrete stiffness with
time, sequential loading, and foundation settlement were accounted for by
analyzing 15 separate three- dimensional finite-element analysis models, each
representing a discrete time during construction (Figure 14). At each point in
time, for each model, only the incremental loads occurring in that particular time
step were applied. Additional time steps, after construction, were analyzed up to
50 years. The structural responses occurring at each time step were stored and
combined in a database to allow studying the predicted time-dependent response
of the structure.
 Long-term creep and shrinkage testing, over one year in duration, have been
performed by the CTL Group (located in Skokie, IL, USA), under contract with
Samsung, on concrete specimens to better understand the actual behavior of the
concrete utilized for the project.

COMPENSATION METHODOLOGY: The tower is being constructed utilizing

both a vertical and horizontal compensation program. For vertical compensation,
each story is being constructed incorporating a modest increase in the typical
floor-to-floor height.For horizontal compensation, the building is being
'recentered' with each successive center hex core jump. The recentering
compensation will correct for all gravity- induced sidesway effects (elastic,
differential foundation settlement, creep, and shrinkage) which occur up to the
casting of each story. Vertical shortening Based on the procedures presented
above, the predicted time-dependent vertical shortening of the center of the core
can be determined at each floor of the Burj Dubai tower (Figure 15), not
accounting for foundation settlements. The total predicted vertical shortening of
the walls and columns at the top of the concrete core, subsequent to casting, is
offset by the additional height added by the increased floor-to-floor height
compensation program. Due to the compatibility requirements of strain between
the rebar and the concrete in a reinforced concrete column, as the concrete
creeps and shrinks, i.e., shortens, the rebar must attract additional compressive
stress and forces to maintain the same strain as the concrete. Since the total load
is the same, over time part of the load in a reinforced concrete column is
transferred from the concrete to the rebar. This un-loading of the concrete,
therefore, alsoreduces the creep in the concrete (less load results in less creep).
As per Figure 16, the rebar in the columns and walls (with a rebar-to-concrete
area ratio of about 1%) at Level 135 supports about 15% of the load at the
completion of construction and the concrete supports 85%. however, after 30
years, the rebar supports 30% of the total load and

the concrete supports 70%. This percent increase in force carried by the rebar
increases as the steel rho is increased and/or as the total load decreases.

GRAVITY-INDUCED HORIZONTAL SIDESWAY: The gravity sides way can be

thought of as the difference between the vertical shortening at the extreme ends
of the building causing curvature which is integrated along the height of the
structure. Concrete creep and shrinkage properties are variable. Taking the
difference between two variable numbers results in a value which has an even
greater variability; hence, prediction of gravity-induced horizontal sidesway is
more of an estimate than the prediction of vertical shortening alone. Based on
the construction sequence, time step, elastic, creep, shrinkage, and foundation
settlement analysis, predictions of the Burj Dubai tower gravity-induced
horizontal sidesway have been made.
 CONCLUSION
More than just the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa is an unprecedented
example of international cooperation, symbolic beacon of progress, and an
emblem of the new, dynamic and prosperous Middle East. It is also tangible proof
of Dubai's growing role in a changing world. In fewer than 30 years, this city has
transformed itself from a regional center to a global one. This success was not
based on oil reserves, but on reserves of human talent, ingenuity and initiative.
Burj Khalifa embodies that vision. It represents a significant achievement in terms
of utilizing the latest design, materials, and construction technology and methods,
in order to provide an efficient, rational structure to rise to heights never before
seen.

REFERENCES
1) www.google.com
2) www.wikipedia.com
3) www.studymafia.org