Structures xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

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Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/structures

Steel concrete composite systems for modular construction of high-rise

buildings
⁎
J.Y.R. Liew , Y.S. Chua, Z. Dai
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore 117576, Singapore

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Modular prefabrication technology promotes off-site manufacturing of modules and on-site assembly by im-
Modular construction proving the construction efficiency, safety and productivity. However, the joining of individual modules needs
DfMA special connectors that must be fast to install and robust enough to ensure structural integrity. The restrictions
Lightweight on the overall dimension and weight of the modules for lifting and transportation provide the impetus to develop
Fast joint
a more efficient structural module system that is lightweight and fast to install. This paper discusses the design
High-rise
Long span
and construction challenges of existing modular construction of high-rise buildings and provides solutions to
Robustness resolve these challenges. A novel lightweight steel-concrete composite system is introduced to reduce the weight
of the module without compromising the strength and stiffness. To increase the available headroom, a slim floor
system is proposed to reduce the floor-to-floor depth and ensure the integration of buildings service within the
structural zone. High strength concrete is used as an infill material for tubular columns to maintain the same
column size to avoid complex joining details involving modules with different column sizes. Long-span steel
concrete composite modular system is proposed to reduce the number of joints and columns for fast track
construction. A fast and easy joining technique is developed to ensure fast installation of modules. Inter-module
joints are modelled as semi-rigid to capture the realistic joint behaviour in global analysis to ensure the struc-
tural integrity and overall stability of the building.

1. Introduction construction has been adopted in many sectors of the building industry,
such as residences, hotels and hospitals by several countries over the
Conventional construction methods that use cast in-situ structural last 20 years.
elements and brick walls are still widely used due to relatively low In recent years, Singapore has also shown great effort to promote
labour cost in some countries. However, the low productivity of such modular construction in local projects to achieve productivity im-
construction methods have impeded economic growth in construction provement in terms of construction time and manpower. Since 2014,
and they are losing their financial advantage with increasing labour the use of modular construction in selected public residential projects
costs [1]. At the same time, expanding urban population calls for more has been made mandatory [7]. Its benefits have been proven in the
high-rise buildings. Coincidently, a good design practice of high-rise successful launching of pioneer modular construction projects in Sin-
buildings is to embrace simplicity, standardization, repetition, and gapore: (a) Crowne Plaza Hotel Extension, Changi Airport, and (b) NTU
economy of scale. This renders the high-rise buildings to be intrinsically North Hill Residence Hall as shown in Fig. 1. It is reported that both
modular by off-site factory production [2–5]. projects have achieved time savings of up to 6 months and on-site
To overcome these challenges, modular construction has been en- manpower savings of up to 40%. These projects give confidence to the
couraged in Singapore whereby building modules are constructed off- industry, government, and public on this new technology. It is projected
site before being assembled on-site to form a building. Prefabricated that by 2019, 35% of newly launched housing board projects will be
Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) is a specific type of mod- built using modular construction. Table 1 summarizes the current
ular construction where the internal elements of the modules (walls, modular construction projects in Singapore.
floors and ceilings, mechanical, plumping and electrical, etc.) are pre- The idea of modularization is compatible with the design of high-
finished before the modules are installed [6]. With the advantages of rise buildings which encourages design standardization and repetition.
higher construction speed, productivity and quality control, modular Currently, the cost of modular construction is approximately 15% more

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.Y.R. Liew).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2019.02.010
Received 28 November 2018; Received in revised form 15 February 2019; Accepted 15 February 2019
2352-0124/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Structural Engineers.

Please cite this article as: J.Y.R. Liew, Y.S. Chua and Z. Dai, Structures, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2019.02.010
J.Y.R. Liew, et al. Structures xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 1. Pioneer modular construction projects in Singapore (a) Crowne Plaza Hotel Ext @ Changi Airport, and (b) NTU North Hill Residence Hall (Photographs
courtesy of Dragages and of Office of Development & Facilities Management, Nanyang Technological University for Nanyang Crescent).

Table 1
List of modular construction projects in Singapore.
Project name No. of storey Type of module Function

1 Crowne Plaza Hotel Ext @ Changi Airport 10 Steel Hotel

2 NTU North Hill Residence Hall 13 Steel Hostel
3 NTU Nanyang Crescent Hostel 11 & 13 Steel Hostel
4 Nursing Home (Woodlands) 9 Steel Nursing home
5 JTC Space @ Tuas 9 (L7-L9 are PPVC) Steel Industrial
6 The Wisteria Mixed Development 12 Steel Private residential
7 Brownstone Executive Condominium 10 & 12 Steel Private residential
8 Senja Polyclinic 12 (L7-L12 are PPVC) Steel Polyclinic, nursing home
9 Bukit Batok Qingjian 16 Concrete Private residential
10 Lake Grande Condominium 17 Concrete Private residential
11 Parc Riviera Condominium 36 Concrete Private residential
12 The Clementi Canopy Condominium 40 Concrete Private residential
13 Tapestry Condo 15 Concrete Private residential
14 Hillview Rise Condo NA NA Private residential

than traditional construction unless the benefit from the economy of requirement in construction tolerances, better fire performance and
scale can be fully achieved. By building high-rise, the cost-effectiveness better water-tightness. Despite the fact that steel modular construction
of modular construction can be enhanced due to the increased number is a lighter option compared to concrete, it is not popular in high-rise
of repeated modules with repetitive architectural plan and structural residential buildings partly due to fire protection and corrosion issues.
layout. Nonetheless, most of the existing modular construction projects This paper highlights the existing design construction issues of using
are only constructed up to 20 storeys, as shown in Table 1. This sum- modular construction for high-rise buildings and proposes solutions to
marizes modular buildings constructed in the past five years. Because of address these issues. A novel steel-concrete composite system is pro-
its novel structural form that consists of many inter- and intra-module posed as a viable and more efficient system that inherits the merits of
connections as compared to conventional construction method, the concrete modular construction of being durable, fire-resistant, water-
construction industry is not confident and unfamiliar in implementing proof, and sound-proof. In addition, it carries the advantages of struc-
such technology, hence hindering modular construction from being tural steel system of being flexible in architectural design, integration of
feasible for high-rise buildings [8,9]. building services, lightweight, long span and fast assembly.
Until recently, the Clementi Canopy Condominium (see Table 1)
was constructed to 40 storeys but it is made of concrete modules with 2. Modular construction and its limitations
load bearing walls. At the present, the construction industry is keener to
adopt concrete modular construction which utilizes load bearing wall There are two common types of modular systems with different
because of smaller dimensions of the modular units, less stringent types of load path. Load bearing wall modules are commonly used in

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Fig. 2. Load bearing modular system.

Fig. 3. Corner supported modular system.

concrete building, in which the concrete walls are used to transfer [6]. Concrete modular systems are preferable in residential buildings
gravity loads to the foundation, as well as resisting the lateral loads as because they are perceived to have better sound and thermal insulation
illustrated in Fig. 2 [10]. The other type of modular system is based on and ease of maintenance. Concrete modules are less stringent in terms
corner supported modules, which are generally made of steel in which of manufacturing and construction tolerances as their joints are made
the gravity loads are transferred to the slab, then to the edge beams and by grouting the gaps between the modules and hence on-site correction
corner columns and to the foundations [10]. The lateral load is resisting can be done during module placement [11].
by separately braced frames or reinforced concrete core wall. Generally, Prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) en-
the weight of a steel modular unit is about 15 to 20 t, which is 20 to 35 courages high prefabrication rate as the modules are completed with
% lighter than a concrete modular unit with weight of about 20 to 35 t. finishes and mechanical, electrical, and plumping (MEP) in the con-
Moreover, steel modular systems have more flexibility in architectural trolled environment [6,12]. The construction sequence of a modular
design owing to the open space framing system and larger module sizes unit consists of six phases as demonstrated in Fig. 4. Firstly, the struc-
with beam span ranging from 6 m to 12 m [11]. This leads to a smaller tural system of a module is assembled in the factory. This is followed by
number of modules and connections in steel modular system as com- integration of MEP as well as interior and exterior finishes into the main
pared to those using concrete. The construction speed of steel modular structural system as shown in Fig. 4(b) and (c). Thereafter, the module
system is also faster as it commonly involves bolted connections is transported to the site by truck, as displayed in Fig. 4(d), according to
whereas concrete modular system often requires in-situ grouted joints. construction schedule. Generally, there is limited space at the site to
However, steel modular construction may have durability and fire store the completed modules. Therefore, the arrangement of module
resistance issues depending on the construction system. In addition, transportation to site needs to be aligned with module on-site in-
periodic inspection on bolted connections in steel modular systems is stallation. Lastly, Fig. 4(e) shows the stacking of modules at the con-
often required to ensure their integrity is not compromised by corrosion struction site using a tower crane. In most of the modular construction
in the service life of the building [6]. Therefore, steel modular systems projects, the modules are generally placed on top of a cast in-situ
are commonly used in institutional and student residence buildings, as concrete podium that may serve as a car park, public space, etc. The
listed in Table 1, whereby a larger open space is necessary and periodic manufacturing, transportation and installation of modules need to be
inspection can be conducted more conveniently. Inspection points shall well scheduled such that the podium and the lateral force resisting
be strategically positioned at common area for the ease of inspection system (LFRS) such as core wall can be constructed first.

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Fig. 4. Modular construction – from manufacturing to site installation.

Fig. 5. Module size limit due to transportation truck.

Fig. 6. Tower crane for module lifting [16].

This paper focuses on corner supported modular system, as shown in
Fig. 3, because of its high potential in improving construction pro-
For instance, traffic rules on road transportation require that the width
ductivity and higher performance to weight ratio [13]. Despite the
and length of the module should be less than 3.4 m and 12 m respec-
advantages of modular construction in improving construction pro-
tively, while the maximum height of the module is limited to 4.5 m
ductivity and efficiency, its existing applications have faced several
from the road surface, as shown in Fig. 5, to avoid clashing with
limitations. Firstly, logistics for module transportation from factory to
overhead bridges [15].
site affects the maximum size and weight of each module design, which
Furthermore, the lifting limit of tower cranes, as shown in Fig. 6,
in turn influences the number of modules to complete the layout design
also constrains the weight of a modular unit. Most commonly used
[11,14]. The size of a typical modular unit should be kept within the
tower cranes in building projects have lifting capacity less than 20 t.
land and transport regulatory without requiring traffic police escort.
The cost of the tower crane will increase by up to 60% when its lifting

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sided panels and complete with floor and ceiling finishes and MEP, it is
preferable that the modules are jointed externally (i.e. outside the
module) to minimize on-site work for interior finishes touch up [17].
Furthermore, it is more economical to develop rigid connections be-
tween adjacent modules. The rigidly-connected modules can act as an
integrated frame structure to resist lateral loads and reduce the reliance
on lateral load resisting system. However, it is not efficient to create
fully rigid connections using site welding due to space constraint and it
reduces the speed and efficiency of modular construction. Therefore,
novel modular joint design is needed to achieve fast and easy installa-
tion of the modules.
Nonetheless, due to the increased number of connections, there are
uncertainties in continuity of the structural components that has sig-
nificant impact on the overall stability and sway behaviour of the
building. Resistance to horizontal and accidental loads becomes in-
creasingly important with the scale of the building [10]. If the modules
are connected at the corner joints only, the floor slab of each module
Fig. 7. Lifting frame used during module placement.
acts as a discrete rigid diaphragm and relies on inter-module connection
to transfer the lateral loads to the lateral bracing system. It is ques-
requirement exceeds 20 t. Furthermore, the module is attached to a tionable whether discrete floor diaphragms can provide sufficient lat-
lifting frame and lifted by the tower crane in order to stabilize the eral resistance as compared to conventional construction methods, in
module and minimize horizontal forces acting onto the ceiling beams as which the entire floor slab acts as a continuous rigid diaphragm [18].
shown in Fig. 7 [11]. Therefore, hoist weight and module size for Nonetheless, to connect all the modular slabs together in modular
transportation are the main restriction in modular design and con- building, additional overlapping rebars and site grouting are needed as
struction. shown in Fig. 10. This may reduce the construction speed and require
Reduction of construction depth and increasing the headroom of site labour for laying of rebars and site grouting.
module is desirable for building design. Fig. 8 illustrates the difference Moreover, the geometric and positioning tolerances might result in
between elevation view of a conventional building and a modular additional eccentricities loads on the structural components in the
building. Unlike conventional buildings where single beam supports modules, as illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12 [4,10,15]. It is reported that
both the ceiling of the lower story and the floor of upper story, modular the geometric and positioning tolerance of modular building of 10
structure consists of separate units that are stacked together. Therefore, storeys is approximately h/350, which is 60% higher than the tolerance
each module consists of a ceiling beam that supports only the MEP for conventional building that considers the positioning tolerance only
services and floor beam that supports the dead and imposed loads. [4]. For the purpose of analysis, a notional horizontal force of 1%,
When the modules are stacked vertically, there are two beams between which is higher than 0.5% for conventional steel frame building, was
the upper and lower storeys with a small gap, thus taking up extra proposed for storey up to 12 storeys [4]. Hence, global modelling of
vertical space as compared to conventional building. If the required modular high-rise building with appropriate joint model and structural
depth of floor beam is larger due to long span or higher design imposed design consideration is critical in order to ensure the analysis is able to
load, construction depth will increase and headroom will be sacrificed capture the global behaviour and to ensure its lateral stability.
even more. The control of combined geometric and positional deviations is
Modules in steel building are connected via beams and columns as important in the construction of high-rise modular building. It is re-
shown in Fig. 9. As for conventional steel frame structures, joints in commended that the maximum deviation should not exceed 40 mm
steel modular buildings can be classified as corner joints, perimeter relative to the ground datum. This also implies that the reinforced
joints, and internal joints. Different joints have different inter-module concrete core walls or any laterally bracing systems should be con-
connection details and thus have different structural performances and structed to similar accuracy to avoid unacceptable gap among the
loading conditions. Specifically for PPVC modules which consist of six- modules, causing subsequent installation problems on site.

Fig. 8. Elevation view of (a) conventional building and (b) modular building.

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Fig. 9. Modules connected at different joints (a) corner joint with 2 columns and 4 beams; (b) external joint with 4 columns and 8 beams; (c) internal joint with 8
columns and 16 beams.

Fig. 10. Extensive rebar and on-site grouting needed to tie slabs from all modules to form continuous diaphragm.

In current practice, the productivity and efficiency of modular which may cause damage of internal finishes especially in PPVC
construction are not yet fully maximized because there is still much whereby the modules are completed with internal finishes. To ensure
labour work involved in the factory as well as at construction site. This balanced lifting, multiply pulleys and lifting chains are often needed as
is because the initial investment cost in automation technologies is high depicted in Fig. 13(b), and all these chains are often adjusted manually
and there is a lack of skilled labour in construction. The manufacturing at site further slowing down the speed of construction. In current
of modular units sometimes still involves conventional panelized practice, the locating of module during assembly is still done manually
casting, followed by assembly of panels into modular unit. This causes as displayed in Fig. 13(c). Accuracy positioning and installation of
error in verticality and horizontality of the module (see Fig. 11) that module is crucial to minimize the accumulative error among modules as
might lead to uneven surface at the gap between two modules and shown in Fig. 12.
subsequently lead to water tightness problem.
On the other hand, due to lack of automated machines at the con-
struction site, longer time is required to adjust the lifting chains such 3. Methods to improve efficiency of modular construction
that the module is balanced before assembly. Poor design of lifting
frame leads to unbalanced module as shown in Fig. 13(a) during lifting As discussed in Section 2, there are many challenges in high-rise
modular construction because its structural form is relatively novel that

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spans and their structural depths and steel weights comparisons are
demonstrated in Fig. 17. As can be seen, the available headroom in the
modules can be increased by 20% to 30% as compared to a pure steel
beam design, which is demonstrated in Fig. 16(a). Slim floor beam, as
shown in Fig. 16(c), can be introduced into the system to further in-
crease the available headroom by reducing the structural depth by 50 to
75 mm as compared to conventional composite beam with slab on top
of the steel beam as shown in Fig. 17(a) [21,22]. Moreover, slim floor
system is suitable for prefabricated module because the steel deck can
be eliminated as reusable mould can be used for slab casting.
Using pure steel columns in modular high-rise building may cause
the column size to be larger or thicker steel section, and thus lead to
higher costs and less usable space. For example, for the 32-story braced
steel modular systems (B2 Tower) in New York, column sizes were kept
to be 150 mm × 150 mm but the thickness of steel was up to 38 mm
[23]. Variations of column sizes along the height of modular buildings
could lead to difficulties in inter-module connections. To reduce the
Fig. 11. Geometric tolerance of single modules during manufacturing [11]. hoisting weight and maintain the column size, composite design of
columns such as rectangular concrete-filled tubular column can be
implemented in proposed modular unit as demonstrated in Fig. 14.
High strength concrete can be used to infill the steel tubular column to
reduce the column size as well as maintaining the column size
throughout the entire building for the ease of connection. Moreover,
due to weight of concrete cast-in situ is not included in hoisting weight
and thus, by separating the infill concrete weight and steel weight,
further reduction on hoisting weight can be achieved.

3.2. Long span modular unit

With the aim to expand the applications of modular construction

and fully maximize its advantages, a long span modular unit with beam
span up to 12 m is proposed. The proposed long span module can in-
crease construction speed by reducing the number of modules and inter-
module connections. At the same time, implementation of long span
modules allows for larger open space and more flexible floor arrange-
ment as shown in Fig. 18. The proposed long-span modular unit can
expand the applications of modular construction from residential and
Fig. 12. Positioning tolerances of modules causes accumulative error Δ during
installation [11].
commercial buildings to industrial buildings, whereby large column-
free space and higher design imposed loads (5 kN/m2 to 20 kN/m2) are
needed.
is different from conventional building. This section proposes solutions Due to increased floor mass and longer span lengths, the beam de-
to overcome the current limitations of modular construction with the flection and vibration have become an area of concern. As can be seen
aim of maximizing the construction efficiency and productivity. in Fig. 17(a), for a span of 12 m with typical residential design imposed
load of 1.5 kN/m2, a total structural depth d of up to 600 mm is needed
3.1. Composite lightweight modular unit if composite design is not considered. As a result, the increased depth of
floor beam will take up more vertical space, so either the available
Since the weight and size of modules are constrained by the trans- headroom within the modules has to be reduced, or the storey height
portation and lifting requirements, a composite lightweight modular has to be increased. However, it is shown in Fig. 17(b) that introducing
system is proposed as shown in Fig. 14. Fig. 15 shows the weight dis- slim floor beam may not contribute significantly to steel weight re-
tribution in a steel modular unit. As can be seen, the weight of the floor duction particularly for module span below 9 m, as compared to con-
and partition walls can be potentially reduced as they are the two ventional composite beam due to larger beam size required in slim floor
elements of heavier weight in a module. Therefore, structural light- design. Therefore, slim floor system is more beneficial to be adopted for
weight concrete can be used in the slab to reduce the weight of a module span of 9 m and above such that the steel usage is optimized
modules by up to 40%. It is also reported that lightweight aggregate while the available headroom is larger as compared to conventional
concrete is cost-effective and is able to provide good thermal insulation beam system.
and fire resistance. Additionally, ultra-lightweight partition walls using The lateral stability of the structure under horizontal loads such as
foamed concrete can be incorporated in the modular system because wind load and equivalent horizontal forces (EHF) may be undermined
they are non-structural but can provide good acoustic and thermal in- due to the reduced flexural stiffness of longer-span beams. Moreover,
sulation [20]. hoist weight of long span modular units will be higher. These issues can
Furthermore, as discussed in Section 2, headroom is also another be resolved by implementing the composite lightweight modular unit as
important aspect in modular building. Composite beam design can be shown in Fig. 14, whereby the lightweight concrete slab and light-
applied by installing shear studs so that composite action can be weight partition walls aim for weight reduction while composite slim
achieved between steel beam section and concrete slab as shown in floor design helps to increase the available headroom in a module.
Fig. 16(b). Design calculation has been conducted on the beam and slab
systems shown in Fig. 16 for residential building with different module

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(a) Unbalanced module due to poor lifting

frame design [19].

(c) Positioning the module at the desired

location.
(b) Balanced lifting with multiple pulleys and
chains [16].
Fig. 13. Problems during module lifting and installation.

3.3. Fast-installed joining techniques

Inter-module connection design in modular construction aims for

fast and easy installation yet able to provide sufficient stiffness and
resistance. As shown in Fig. 14, rigid welded beam-to-column joints are
provided to ensure the modular framework is rigid and robust on its
own [24]. The welding of beams and columns can be done in the fac-
tory. The module is jointed with the adjacent modules at the corners via
beams and columns, as shown in Fig. 9. Many researchers have pro-
posed different types of joints for modular construction, for instances,
beam-beam connection and column-column connection using bolts and
plates [17]. Beam-beam connection joins the floor beams of the upper
module and ceiling beams of the lower module and can be achieved
using welding or bolting.
As mentioned in Section 2, welded connection is not preferred on
Fig. 14. Proposed composite lightweight modular unit. site for inter-module connection as it required highly skilled labour to
work in limited space and it is often subject to time-consuming in-
spection after welding. Thus, connections with different bolting tech-
niques have been proposed as shown in Fig. 19. Past studies show that
these connections can be designed to be ductile and strong enough to
resist seismic loadings in steel modular system [25–27]. Some re-
searchers commented that this type of connection could result in rigid
joints that rendered the modular structure to be just like normal braced
frame structure [26] whereas others reported that this joint design can
be conservatively assumed as pin joints in global frame modelling
[28–31].
Nonetheless, it might not be conservative to assume pin connection
for the design of the joints as less forces will be attracted to the joint
including the beam-column welded joints [32]. Pin connection as-
sumption could also lead to false effective length of columns and thus
overestimates the column capacities in unbraced frames whereas it is a
conservative assumption in braced frames [33]. Conversely, it is shown
that ‘short’ segments such as tendon or plug-in device that are meant to
Fig. 15. Weight distribution in a steel modular unit. provide continuity between columns from upper and lower modules can
be added in bolted beam-beam connections as shown in Fig. 19(d) and
(e) [25,34]. It is reported that increasing the length and thickness of

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Fig. 16. Structural depth d of (a) steel beam (non-composite), (b) conventional composite beam and (b) slim floor concrete filled composite beam.

Fig. 17. Comparison among different slab and beam systems (a) structural depth, and (b) steel weight with module spans of 6 m, 9 m, and 12 m for residential
building design.

these types of ‘short’ segment may reduce the effective buckling length section and concrete filled tubular columns. Likewise, for connection
of the columns in the module by about 10% to 40% [34]. shown in Fig. 20(b), four strands inside the rectangular concrete filled
Nonetheless, bolted connections require more stringent tolerance in tube columns are prestressed as it can develop larger rotational stiffness
fabrication. Large number of bolts usually leads to delay in bolting on to prevent columns from opening up under extreme lateral loads such
site. In addition, to perform bolted connections, entering the pre- as seismic loading [36].
finished modules and access holes on walls, floors or ceilings are ne- Nonetheless, it should be noted that due to increased number of
cessary at every corner of the modules. This will cause potential da- stacked modules in high-rise buildings, the accumulative tolerance
mages to internal finishes and costly rework on site. While allowing error in successive module placements may potentially become larger
larger tolerance for bolted connection may ensure easier installation, it [37]. Therefore, the inter-module connection may allow for adjustment
is not desirable for lateral stability of high-rise modular building as it of misalignments within a specific range of tolerances [37]. The con-
could result in accumulative drift error as depicted in Fig. 12. More- nection may be designed with alignment guidance during installation of
over, in modern practices, 100% wall finishes are required in modular module to minimize the out-of-plumpness. For instance, referring to
construction and thus openings for bolting access is not desirable [6]. column-column connection displayed in Fig. 20(a), other than pro-
Therefore, bolted beam-beam connection may not be idealized for steel viding shear resistance, shear key helps in aligning the column of the
modular system. upper module as well as the adjacent modules. A base plate, which is
To solve the above issues, a new form of joining technique is pro- welded at the bottom of column from upper module, helps in the
posed by connecting the columns of the upper module to the columns of alignment of module placement by fitting with the shear key. Whereas
the lower modules, and the connections can be done outside the the tie plate helps in positioning the adjacent modules by fitting with
modules [17,36]. Fig. 20(a) shows column-column connection that the shear keys from other modules.
utilizes vertical rods to connect the columns vertically while using shear A recommended tolerance of 2 mm gap is proposed between the
key and horizontal tie plate to connect the adjacent modules horizon- shear key and base plate of column above as well as tie plate is con-
tally. In this connection, the vertical tying between upper and lower sidered for the ease of installation as shown in Fig. 22. With the tol-
modules are done by the vertical rod to resist tensile forces while the erance control in connection design, the maximum positioning error is
columns resist compression force by bearing. The shear forces between approximately 20 to 30 mm for 10-storey building, which is lower than
upper and lower columns are transferred by the shear key bearing onto the value of 40 mm proposed by Lawson & Richards [4]. However,
the base plate which is welded at the bottom of column of the upper adding this tolerance might cause the shear key to slip through the gap
module. Δ as depicted in Fig. 22, before engaging with tie plate and base plate
Conversely, for horizontal tying between adjacent modules, shear from column above. The potential slip of the connection system can be
key and horizontal tie plate are designed to transfer the lateral forces to counter-balanced by the frictional force which is relatively significant
LFRS. This proposed connection is weak in providing rotation stiffness due to the clamping forces from the column under service loads.
between upper and lower modules as only the vertical rod is providing
the vertical continuity and hence the rotational stiffness may be as- 3.4. Lateral stability and robustness of modular high-rise building
sumed to be negligible. A semi-rigid model of this connection is pro-
posed as shown in Fig. 21 in order to capture the mechanical behaviour Proper modelling of modular high-rise buildings is important to
of this connection and be used in global modelling of modular building. capture global sway behaviour and ensure the stability of the building
This connection is suitable for both pure steel rectangular hollow under various load combinations and extreme load scenarios such as

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Fig. 18. Comparison of module arrangement for (a) short span (beam span of 6 m) and (b) long span module design (beam span of 12 m).

accidental and seismic loadings. Fig. 23 shows a 40-storey residential them can act as a rigid plate [42].
modular building that was modelled and studied using the proposed Furthermore, inter-module connections must be able to resist ex-
semi-rigid joint model (as shown in Fig. 21). Each module consists of treme loads due to accidental removal of one module [43]. However, it
ceiling and floor levels as shown in Fig. 23(b) and (c). is unreasonable to assume that the entire module will be removed under
As mentioned in Section 2, an equivalent horizontal force (EHF) of an accidental event. Therefore, instead of removing module as sug-
1% the design gravity loads was proposed because of the geometric and gested by Lawson et al. [43], a robustness analysis was conducted under
positional error of vertical stacking of modules up to 12 storeys with corner column removal scenario using nonlinear static analysis for the
inter-module connection to be designed as fully rigid [4,26,38]. How- 15-storey building (with similar layout shown in Fig. 23). Fig. 24 shows
ever, for more than 10 storeys, a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) the load displacement curves at the point of column loss comparing the
such as core wall or bracing frame should be incorporated [11,39]. conventional building with modular building. It is concluded that the
Hence, an EHF of 0.5% recommended by EN 1993-1-1 was used be- progressive collapse resistance of a modular building with modules
cause module alignment can be adjusted at the site along with the core connected at corner joints can achieve the safety requirement compared
wall [40]. to conventional building with equivalent amount of materials [44],
Due to the discontinuity of the structural components among although the column vertical deflection at the accidental design load
modules, the column-column connection is modelled as pin, and the level is 14% higher than that of the conventional building. The tie
modules are designed to resist the gravity loads only whereas the core plates served as critical components to redistribute the gravity loads to
wall resists all the lateral loads. This is due to high core wall utilization adjacent modules due to the column removal.
ratio of 0.95 which is defined as ratio of base shear taken by core wall
over that of the total base shear the building. The assumption of pin-
ended column-column connection is safe for non-sway modular 4. Recommendations for future research
building and the horizontal tie plate is assumed to be rigidly connected
to the columns [41]. Discrete floor diaphragms can be assigned in each The successful modular construction projects and research show
module at floor level as demonstrated in Fig. 24(c) as the modules are promising potential in improving construction productivity, efficiency
connected at the corner joints only. The results show that the building is and safety, reducing manpower, and generating less construction waste.
laterally stable if the inter-module connection is designed properly to Nonetheless, there are still many areas require further improvements
transfer the horizontal load via axial and shear forces. The design of and research in order to fully maximize the advantages of the modular
floor slab in each module needs to be stiff enough such that each of construction.

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Fig. 19. Typical beam-beam connections: (a) VectorBloc System [35], (b) corner joint [29], (c) perimeter joint [26], (d) and (e) interior joint [25,34].

4.1. Further enhancement for lateral and earthquake resistance 4.2. Fast joining techniques

Novel prefabricated and prefinished volumetric structural system Moreover, more innovative and fast joining techniques such as snap-
can be further developed to speed up on-site assembling with sig- fit type of mechanical connector with minimum on-site work can be
nificant labour savings. The system should encourage the standardiza- developed but its effect on global stability, structural integrity and ro-
tion of module size and member size while providing a certain degree of bustness need to be evaluated, especially for high-rise modular build-
flexibility in exterior and interior layout. To do so, the existing corner ings. These connectors also need to consider fabrication tolerances for
support modular system, which allows for larger open space and more the ease of site installation. Second order analysis of modular high-rise
flexibility in layout, may be added with bracing or integrated with load building is necessary to capture the semi-rigid behaviour of connectors
bearing modular system. This could reduce the reliance on the lateral to ensure the overall stability of the stacked up modules.
force resisting system to resist the horizontal load, encourage longer
span module design as well as to increase the ratio of off-site fabrication
4.3. Development of lightweight and high performance materials
over on-site work in a modular building. In addition, damper system
can be adopted into the steel braced modular system to improve the
As discussed in Section 3, a composite lightweight modular unit is
energy absorption capability for seismic design purpose as shown in
proposed to solve the existing practical problems in modular con-
Fig. 25.
struction. Further study can be conducted to develop durable

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Fig. 20. Column-column connection using (a) vertical rod and (b) pre-stressed strands [36].

Fig. 21. Proposed semi-rigid joint model.

lightweight and high strength composite material for both structural

and non-structural purposes. Ultra-lightweight materials with low
thermal conductivity are suitable for used as internal walls. These
materials provide excellent sound and thermal insulation. High strength
composite material can be used in columns and structural walls to re-
duce and standardize the column size throughout the building height. Fig. 22. Tolerance in connection allows for module misalignment adjustment:
The advancement in these high performance materials can help to (a) 3D view and (b) plan view.
produce slimmer and lighter structural and non-structural components
in a modular unit, further reducing the hoist weight and module size spread of fire from module to module. Building fire safety is achieved
due to the constraints from transportation and lifting. by compartmentalization and the use of fire resistant materials to
These materials can also be developed to be more economical by prevent fire spread. Each modular unit is segregated by fire resistant
adding by-product material that promotes sustainability. Nonetheless, wall and slab to form a separate fire compartment. Therefore, all the
the long term durability, material creep and shrinkage of these com- structural (i.e. beam, column, and slab) and non-structural (i.e. parti-
posite materials shall also be studied to prevent differential settlements tion wall) components made of lightweight and high strength compo-
between columns and core wall, moisture penetration and water site material need to have adequate fire resistance. Fire stops must be
tightness in modular building. provided at all gaps between modules to prevent fire penetration be-
tween the walls and slabs. Means of escape should be considered early
in the scheme design in order to ensure that the module design and
4.4. Fire safety of modular buildings layout can satisfy these requirements.

Fire safety of modular building is an important aspect during the

design and construction stages. Local fire safety refers to fire resistance
of individual module and global fire safety refers to the prevention of

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Fig. 23. Global modelling of modular high-rise building.

4.5. Smart and lean construction

Due to high initial cost in investing automation technologies for off-

site fabrication of modules and on-site installation of modules, most of
the site works are still done manually using labour. Automated lifting
and installation method need to be carefully designed to handle new
requirements and constraints to ensure safety and high productivity.
The effectiveness of this technology can be advanced by integrating
with modular component tracking system.
Furthermore, owing to complex logistical requirements and need to
increase productivity on site, a logistic supply management system that
is lean and optimized to reduce all sources of waste shall be proposed
Fig. 24. Comparison of applied load ratio versus displacement curves of con-
while maintaining an agile response to changes in project requirement.
ventional building with modular building due to column removal [44].
In particular, it ensures that the building materials and structural
components are coordinated in economically optimized batch sizes to
ensure right product mix for different project configurations. Project

Fig. 25. Adding steel bracing with damper: (a) elevation view of a modular braced frame and (b) 3D view of a module.

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schedule drives the procurement, logistic and fabrication schedules to of modular construction can be extended from residential and
achieve a smooth supply for uninterrupted installation on site. It commercial buildings to wider applications such as industrial
carefully monitors key constraints so that potential conflicts can be buildings that require larger open space but higher design floor
resolved in a timely fashion. This also ensures the resource planning is loads. Nonetheless, the increased of structural depth due to the
well coordinated and optimized. longer span encourages the novel use of slim floor beam system to
The optimum method to track resources, components and progress reduce the module height. The preliminary studies show that slim
efficiently and effectively shall be investigated. A Building Information floor beam system is efficient for module span from 9 m to 12 m in
Model (BIM) for modular construction can be developed to integrate terms of steel usage as compared to conventional composite beam.
architectural, structural, and MEP design for manufacture and in- The use of lightweight concrete slim floor slab can further reduce
stallation. BIM can be integrated with the optimization model and the weight of the module.
workflow functionalities to provide an effective and competitive project 4) With the increased number of connections in modular building, the
life cycle management from design, through procurement, fabrication design of fast and easy joining techniques is important to improve
and installation. Construction knowledge can be combined into the BIM the speed of construction. The joints must be robust enough to
model to facilitate conceptual design with 5D logistics simulation prevent progressive collapse due to column loss scenarios. As the
capabilities so that design can be optimized. It also facilitates in- modular building consists of many individual units, it is proposed
formation integrity through a single truth source for all project func- that the modules can be connected via beams and columns from
tions. both upper and lower modules. The beam-to-column connections
within a module should be designed as rigid. For fully furnished
4.6. Design guide module, the joints between modules should be connected from
outside the modules. Novel joints design that connects the modules
Lastly, with all the potential areas to be studied, a comprehensive via vertical rod and horizontal tie plate are proposed to facilitate
design guide on modular construction can be developed. This design such work. It is recommended that the vertical tie rod connection
guide should include the design methodology of all the standardized between the upper and lower module should be modelled as pin-
modular connections, composite design of modular unit using light- connected. Conversely, the horizontal tie plate and the shear key
weight and high strength materials, stability analysis of high-rise connecting the modules horizontally should be modelled as fix-
modular building, robustness design, modelling of global and local ended to simulate the fact that the tie plate is rigidly constrained at
imperfections, compartmentation and fire safety consideration, dur- both ends by the clamping force from the columns.
ability and future maintenance. There is great potential to explore new 5) Since the modules are connected at the corners, the floor slab of
structural materials including fibre reinforced polymer composites for each module acts as a discrete floor diaphragm to transfer horizontal
modular construction. Design guide is currently being developed by the load to the lateral force resisting system as long as the inter-module
authors with the intention to make prefinished modules to be simple connections are robust enough to transfer the horizontal loads
and quick to construct, be robust, lightweight and durable for use in tall without significant deformation. It is recommended that global
buildings. modelling of modular high-rise building should take into con-
sideration of the semi-rigid joints and discrete floor slab behaviour
5. Conclusions to capture the load displacement behaviour and to ensure global
stability at the ultimate and accident limit states.
Modular construction shows great potential in improving con-
struction productivity and efficiency. It is believed that modular con- Improved understanding of the real behaviour of fast joints opens
struction will shape the future construction industry. The followings new ways of integrating safety and buildability in the design and con-
summarized the key points discussed in this paper to implement mod- struction of high-rise buildings. This paper provides ideas of composite
ular construction method for high-rise buildings. design to modular construction to improve productivity, safety, reduce
cost, manpower and wastage on site. There are still many areas require
1) As the transportation and lifting requirements constraint the weight further improvements such as the use of lightweight, high strength, and
and size of a module, composite lightweight modular system which durable materials to fully maximize the advantages of the modular
incorporates the advantages of both concrete and steel is proposed. construction. The works mentioned in this paper are a step toward this
Composite beams and concrete-filled tubular columns are proposed development.
for modular design, inheriting the merits of concrete system of being
durable, fire-resistant, water tightness and sound proof and carrying Acknowledgement
the advantages of steel system of being flexible and long span,
lightweight, and fast assembly. Lightweight concrete slab and The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support by the
lightweight partition walls are proposed to reduce the weight of a National Research Foundation (NRF) and SembCorp-NUS Corp Lab
module by up to 50%, leading to lower crane capacity needed. The under project grant R-261-513-009-281.
use of composite column in modular design helps to keep the
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