08-12-2023

|| Shreeji ||

(CDTS)
Dr. Gaurang R. Vesmawala

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

Associate Professor, Structural Engineering Section,
Department of Civil Engineering, SVNIT.

Structural Systems for the tall structures

GENERAL
• Structural engineering of tall buildings requires the use of different systems for

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different building heights. Each system, therefore, has an economical height
range, beyond which a different system is required.

• The requirements of these systems and their ranges are somewhat imprecise
because the demands imposed on the structure significantly influence these
systems.

• During the preliminary design, the engineer should not be overly concerned
with the details, but should allow for sufficient load paths in the structure to
obey the inescapable laws of nature.

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PRINCIPLES
• The principles of efficient tall building structural design, known for some time, are
quite simple:

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1. Resist overturning forces due to lateral loads by using vertical elements placed as
far apart as possible from the geometric centre of the building.

2. Channelize gravity loads to those vertical elements resisting overturning forces

3. Link these vertical elements together with shear-resisting structural elements that
experience a minimum of shear lag effects such that the entire perimeter of the
building resists the overturning moments

4. Resist lateral forces with members axially loaded in compression rather than those
loaded in tension due to overturning

INTRODUCTION

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• Structural System should resist
Gravity Load (Vertical Load) and
Lateral Load (seismic, wind)
• Steel, Reinforced Concrete,
Composite materials are used to
make high-rise

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Components : High Rise Structures

Materials
Components Steel

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Reinforced Concrete

Column Beams Shear wall Bracing Core

Central Split End Atrium

CLASSIFICATION: HIGH-RISE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

Interior Structures Exterior Structures

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• A system where the major part of the • In the system where the major part of the
lateral load resisting system is located lateral load-resisting system is located at
within the interior of the building the building perimeter.

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: HIGH-RISE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: HIGH-RISE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM
• Moment Resisting Frames
• Shear Trusses/Shear Walls

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Braced Hinged Frames

Rigid Frames

Shear Wall Hinged Frames

Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) -Frame Interaction System

Outrigger Structures

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BRACED HINGED FRAMES

• Braced frames are laterally supported by vertical steel trusses, also called shear
trusses, which resist lateral loads primarily through axial stiffness of the members.
• These act as vertical cantilever trusses resisting lateral loads where the columns act

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as chord members and the concentric K, V, or X braces act as web members. Such
systems are called concentric braced frames (CBF).
• Eccentric braced frames (EBF) have, on the other hand, braces which are connected
to the floor girders that form horizontal elements of the truss, with axial offsets to
introduce flexure and shear into the frame.
• This lowers stiffness-to-weight ratio but increases ductility and therefore EBFs are
used for seismic zones where ductility is an essential requirement of structural
design.
• EBFs can also be used to accommodate wide doors and other openings, and have on
occasions been used for non-seismic zones.
• Braced frames are generally located in the service and elevator core areas of tall
buildings. The frame diagonals are enclosed within the walls.

INTERIOR STRUCTURES: BRACED HINGED FRAMES

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• Efficiently resist lateral loads by axial
forces in the shear truss members
• Allows shallower beams compared with
the rigid frames without diagonals
• Interior planning limitations due to
diagonals in the shear trusses
• Expensive diagonal connections

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BRACED FRAME
STRUCTURAL SYSTEM
Different Bracing Types

RIGID FRAMES
• The moment-resisting frame (MRF) consists of horizontal (girder) and vertical
(column) members rigidly connected together in a planar grid form.
• Such frames resist load primarily through the flexural stiffness of the members.

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• The size of the columns is mainly controlled by the gravity loads that accumulate
towards the base of the building giving rise to progressively larger column sizes
towards the base from the roof.
• The size of the girders, on the other hand, is controlled by stiffness of the frame in
order to ensure acceptable lateral sway of the building.
• Although gravity load is more or less the same in all typical floors of a tall building,
the girder sizes need to be increased to increase the frame stiffness. Likewise,
columns already sized for gravity loads need to be slightly increased to increase the
frame stiffness as well.
• Advantages of rigid frame include ease of construction, labors can learn construction
skills easily, construct rapidly, and can be designed economically.

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: RIGID FRAMES

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• A moment-resisting frame (MRF) consists of
horizontal (girder) and vertical (column)
members rigidly connected together in a planar grid
form
• The size of the columns is mainly controlled by the
gravity loads
• The size of the girders is controlled by stiffness of
the frame in order to ensure acceptable lateral
sway of the building.

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SHEAR WALL HINGED FRAMES

• Reinforced concrete planar solid or coupled shear walls have been one of the most popular
systems used for high-rise construction to resist lateral forces caused by wind and
earthquakes.

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• They are treated as vertical cantilevers fixed at the base. When two or more shear walls in
the same plane are interconnected by beams or slabs, as is the case with shear walls with
door or window openings, the total stiffness of the system exceeds the sum of the individual
wall stiffness.
• This is so because the connecting beam forces the walls to act as a single unit by restraining
their individual cantilever actions. These are known as coupled shear walls.
• Shear walls used in tall office buildings are generally located around service and elevator
cores and stairwells. In fact, in many tall buildings, the vertical solid core walls that enclose
the building services can be used to stabilize and stiffen the building against lateral loads.
• Many possibilities exist with single or multiple cores in a tall building with regard to their
location, shape, number, and arrangement. The core walls are essentially shear walls that
can be analyzed as planar elements in each principal direction or as three-dimensional
elements using computer programs.

INTERIOR STRUCTURES: SHEAR WALL HINGED FRAMES

• Reinforced concrete planar solid or coupled shear walls help

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to resist lateral forces caused by wind and earthquakes.
• In the case of two or more coplanar shear walls
interconnected by beams or slabs the total stiffness of the
system exceeds the sum of the individual wall stiffness.
• Hinged frames are used for this interconnection.
• Connecting beam forces the walls to act as a single unit by
restraining their individual cantilever actions.

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: SHEAR WALL HINGED FRAMES

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SHEAR WALL SYSTEM
• It is a continuous vertical wall constructed from reinforced concrete material.

• Shear walls withstand both gravity and lateral loads, and it acts as narrow deep cantilever beam.

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• The vertical and lateral loads are resisted by the walls through axial load, in-plane bending moment
and shear force.

• It is commonly constructed as a core of buildings

• It is highly suitable for bracing tall buildings either reinforced concrete or steel structure. This is
because shear walls have substantial in plane stiffness and strength.

• It may serve as excellent acoustic and fire insulators between and rooms apartments.

• shear wall structural system can be economical up to 35 stories building structure.

• Shear walls need not to be symmetrical in plan, but symmetry is preferred in order to avoid torsional
effects.

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SHEAR WALL SYSTEM

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COUPLED WALL SYSTEM
• This system comprises of two or more interconnected shear walls

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• Shear walls are connected at the floor levels by beam or stiff slabs.
• Stiffness of the whole system is far greater than that of its components.
• The effect of the shear-resistant connecting members is to cause the sets of walls to
behave in their partly as a composite cantilever, bending about the common
centroidal axis of the walls.
• The system is suitable for buildings up to 40 storey height.

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SHEAR WALL (OR SHEAR TRUSS)-FRAME INTERACTION SYSTEMS

• Rigid frames (MRF) may be combined with vertical reinforced concrete

shear walls or steel shear trusses, to create shear wall (or shear truss)-

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frame interaction systems.

• Rigid frame systems are not efficient for buildings over 30 stories in height
because the shear racking component of deflection caused by the bending of
columns and girders causes the building to sway excessively.

• On the other hand, vertical steel shear trusses or concrete shear walls alone
may provide resistance for buildings up to about 10 or 35 stories,
respectively, depending on the height-to-width ratio of the system.

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• The approximately linear shear-type deflected profile of the MRF, when

combined with the parabolic cantilever sway mode of the shear truss or shear

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walls, results in a common shape of the structure when the two systems are
forced to deflect in the same way by the rigid floor diaphragm.

• The upper part of the truss is restrained by the frame, whereas at the lower
part, the shear wall or truss restrains the frame.

• This effect produces increased lateral rigidity of the building. This type of
system has wide applications for buildings up to about 40 to 70 stories in
height.

INTERIOR STRUCTURES:
SHEAR WALL (OR SHEAR TRUSS) FRAME INTERACTION SYSTEM

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• Combined structure of shear
trusses or shear walls with
moment-Frame resisting frame.
• The upper part of the truss
restrained by the frame.
• The lower part, the frame is
restrained by shear wall or truss.

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Rigid frame, shear truss (brace), and shear wall

(a) Shear trussed frame (braced frame) system,

(b) shear walled frame system

Interior Structures: Shear Wall (Or Shear Truss) Frame Interaction System
Braced Rigid Frame

• Effectively resists lateral loads by producing Shear truss-Frame interacting system.

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Interior Structures: Shear Wall (Or Shear Truss) Frame Interaction System
Shear Wall Rigid Frame

• Effectively resists lateral loads by producing Shear truss-frame interacting system.

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OUTRIGGER SYSTEMS
• Outrigger systems have been historically used by sailing ships to help resist the
wind forces in their sails, making the tall and slender masts stable and strong.
• The core in a tall building is analogous to the mast of the ship, with outriggers

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acting as the spreaders and the exterior columns like the stays. As for the sailing
ships, outriggers serve to reduce the overturning moment in the core that would
otherwise act as pure cantilever, and to transfer the reduced moment to the outer
columns through the outriggers connecting the core to these columns.
• The core may be centrally located with outriggers extending on both sides or in
some cases it may be located on one side of the building with outriggers extending
to the building columns on the other side.
• The outrigger systems may be formed in any combination of steel, concrete and
composite construction. Because of the many functional benefits of outrigger
systems and the advantages outlined above, this system has lately been very
popular for supertall buildings all over the world.

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: OUTRIGGER STRUCTURES

• Outriggers serve to reduce the
overturning moment in the core.

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• Transfer the reduced moment to the
outer columns through the outriggers
connecting the core to these columns.
• The outriggers are generally in the
form of trusses in steel structures, or
walls in concrete structures.

OUTRIGGER SYSTEMS
• The concept of outrigger dates back to 50 years, it origined in deep beams. It has
been derived from deep beam into concrete walls, and now in the form of one or
several story outrigger trusses.

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• The cores are normally located at the centre of the building, whereas the
outriggers extend out to the outer columns.
• The core may be centrally located with outriggers extending on both sides or in
some cases it may be located on one side of the building with outriggers extending
to the building columns on the other side.
• Therefore, the outriggers and the outer columns work together as a further restrain
to the core wall.
• The outriggers are generally in the form of trusses in steel structures, or walls,
girders and deep beams in concrete structures, to connect the core and the columns
at the perimeter. This system effectively acts as stiff headers inducing a tension-
compression couple in the outer columns.

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• Belt trusses are often provided to distribute these tensile and compressive
forces to a large number of exterior frame columns. The belt trusses also help
in minimizing differential elongation and shortening of columns.

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• Outriggers can also be supported on megacolumns in the perimeter of the
building. Although this structure is primarily an interior system, the belt
trusses or megacolumns offer a wider perimeter, thus resisting the lateral
push of the building’s ‘feet’ spread.
• Some other advantages of the core-and-outrigger system are that the exterior
column spacing can easily meet aesthetic and functional requirements, and
the building’s perimeter framing system may consist of simple beam-column
framing without the need for rigid-frame-type connections.
• The outrigger trusses are normally one-story high, some even occupy several
stories.

• Under lateral load, the belt trusses act as lever arms that directly transfer
axial stresses to the perimeter columns.
• The bending, axial tension, and compression of the outer columns connected
to the outriggers help resist the external moments of the structure. This

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resistance enhances the overall stiffness of the core, helps in reducing the
lateral deflections, and overturning moments.
• The outrigger columns work together particularly
helping to restrain the rotation of the core. Overall,
major advantage of using the outrigger is to resist the
rotation of the core and significantly reduce the lateral
deflection and overturning moment.
• If the outrigger is used together with external tube
systems, it can more evenly distribute the large
vertical forces applied by outriggers across the
multiple columns.

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: OUTRIGGER STRUCTURES

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INTERIOR STRUCTURES: OUTRIGGER STRUCTURES

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TYPES OF OUTRIGGERS
• There are several different types of outrigger system, such as steel outriggers,
concrete outriggers, hybrid outrigger (using both concrete and steel material) and
damped outriggers.

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1) Steel Outriggers
• Steel outrigger systems are most conventional type outriggers extensively used in a
lot of tall buildings as most of tall buildings are either steel or composite structural
system. In the conventional design, the outrigger is designed to be a story height
truss.
• The famous examples are: Twin Tower (collapsed in the 9/11 attack) and the Shard
in London.

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2) Concrete Outriggers
• The benefit of concrete outrigger system verses steel is high stiffness and low
cost. Under wind load cases, the outrigger system needs to be of stiff concrete

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deep beam or of concrete wall which can be easily achieved by this. Fig.
shows a typical outrigger using concrete wall. This type of system is more
common in a concrete structure rather than in a steel frame structure.
• One of the famous examples is 432 Park Avenue building in New York.

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3) Hybrid Outriggers
• The steel outrigger is not as stiff as concrete outrigger. However, a pure
concrete outrigger system is very brittle.
• An innovative type of steel-concrete hybrid outrigger truss was developed in

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two 370-m tall mega-high-rise towers in Raffles City Chongqing, in which the
steel truss is embedded into the reinforced concrete outrigger wall as shown
in Fig.
• Both the steel truss and the concrete outrigger wall work compositely to
enhance the overall structural performance of the tower structures under
extreme loads.

4) Damped Outrigger
• In the event of severe earthquake, the overall structural system should be
able to dissipate energy and maintain its robustness against the collapse.

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• In few cases, additional viscous dampers can be installed in the outrigger for
a nonlinear response and tuned to meet multilevel performance objectives.
• In case the dampers fail, the outriggers which is designed to yield in a ductile
manner will remain intact.
• low-yield steel dampers were also adopted as a “fuse” device between the
hybrid outrigger and the mega-column. Thus, it can reduce wind-induced
vibration and can also be used as fuse to protect the building under a severe
earthquake condition.
• The dampers were designed to protect the structural integrity of important
structural components of the hybrid outrigger during moderate-to-severe
earthquakes.

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES
• The nature of building perimeters has more structural significance in tall buildings
than in any other building type due to their very tallness, which means greater
vulnerability to lateral forces, especially wind loads.

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• Thus, it is quite desirable to concentrate as much lateral load-resisting system
components as possible on the perimeter of tall buildings to increase their
structural depth, and, in turn, their resistance to lateral loads.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: HIGH – RISE STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

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Exterior Structures: High-Rise Structural System

Tube System

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Diagrid System

Exo-Skeleton System

Space Truss Structures

Super frames Structure

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES:
TUBE SYSTEM
• A hollow cantilever structure

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perpendicular to the ground to resist
lateral loads.
• Closely spaced columns around the
perimeter of the exterior which are tied
together with deep spandrel beams with
moment connections.
• The combined structure of columns and
beams resulting a rigid frame providing a
dense and strong structural wall along the
exterior high-rise.

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Exterior Structures: Tube System Types

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Frame Tube Braced Tube Bundled Tube-in-
System System Tube System Tube System

FRAMED TUBE SYSTEM

• Framed tube system is one of the most widely used tube systems.
• One of the most typical exterior structures is the tube, which can be defined
as a three-dimensional structural system utilizing the entire building

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perimeter to resist lateral loads.
• In a framed tube system, which is the basic tubular form, the building has
closely spaced columns and deep spandrel beams rigidly connected together
throughout the exterior frames.
• Depending upon the structural geometry and proportions, exterior column
spacing should be from 5 to 15ft (1.5 to 4.5m) on centers. Practical spandrel
beam depths should vary from 24 to 48 in (600 to 1200mm).
• For this particular type of system, the exterior framing should be designed
sufficiently strong (normally in terms of rigid beam to column connections).
• The perimeter of the exterior consists of closely spaced columns that are tied
together with deep spandrel beams through moment connections to resist all
lateral loads.

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• As shown in Fig.(Left), the Twin Towers in New York were one of the first
structures to use a framed tube design.
• As shown in Fig.(right), which is the typical floor of One World Trade Centre
(WTC1), numerous columns with tubular sections can be seen around the
exterior of this plan layout.

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• It can also be seen that, the towers had a steel core at the centre which had 47
columns spaced relatively evenly.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: FRAMED TUBE SYSTEM

In the exterior of the building, columns are closely placed and rigidly
connected with the deep spandrel beams forms a base tube structure

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: FRAMED TUBE SYSTEM

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: FRAMED TUBE SYSTEM

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SHEAR LAG EFFECT IN FRAMED TUBE SYSTEM

• It shows a plan cross section of a building with a moment induced because of
lateral load. It shows the theoretical and the real distribution of axial stresses
in peripheral columns.
• Under lateral load such as wind or earthquake, the whole structure works as

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a vertical cantilever beam. Therefore, the stress distribution in the cross
section should follow the theory of bending (see Fig. A). However, the real
distribution (see Fig. B) of these stresses is not linear.

Fig. Axial stress distribution in the columns of the

building in web as well as in flange panels

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• In the cross section, magnitude of stress at the corner side is higher in

comparison to the columns of the middle location.
• Therefore, in the flange of the cross section, the stress in the middle columns

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is less than that in the corner columns.
• The same kind of nonlinear distribution of axial stress can also be observed in
the web of the cross section as shown in Fig.
• This kind of nonlinear distribution of axial stress along the flange and the
web of the cross section of the tall building plan is called the shear lag effect.
• In theory, if the exterior tube is a perfect tube in the tall building with framed
tube system, then the building should behave like a true cantilever with all
the lateral forces being resisted by the exterior tube. However, due to the
flexibility of spandrel girders and columns, there is a shear lag effect, with a
hyperbolic-type stress distribution in the plan cross section.

• Therefore, when the exterior framed tube is subjected to wind loading,

columns situated near the corners of the tube experience the greatest axial
forces and it spreads nonlinearly for the web frame and flange frame of the

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plan, whereas the middle columns experience a reduction in the axial load
and hence stiffness. The stresses in the inner columns lag behind due to the
bending of the spandrel beams.
• The shear lag effect greatly reduces the effectiveness of the framed tube. In
the design of this type of building, an engineer should limit the level of shear
lag and aim structural behavior similar to that of cantilevers. As stated in by
Taranath, for building taller than 50–60 stories the window opening should
be made relatively narrow to reduce the shear lag.

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BRACED TUBE SYSTEM

• This concept stems from the fact that instead of using closely spaced perimeter
columns, it is possible to stiffen the widely spaced columns by diagonal braces
to create wall-like characteristics.

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• The framed tube becomes progressively inefficient over 60 stories since the web
frames begin to behave as conventional rigid frames. Consequently, beam and
column designs are controlled by bending action, resulting in large size.
• A braced tube overcomes this problem by stiffening the perimeter frames in
their own planes.
• The braces also collect gravity loads from floors and act as inclined columns.
The diagonals of a trussed tube connected to columns at each joint effectively
throughout the tubular framework.
• Therefore, the columns can be more widely spaced and the sizes of spandrels
and columns can be smaller than those needed for framed tubes, allowing for
larger window openings than in the framed tubes.

• The advantage of braced tube is that the diagonal brace can take the lateral
load in axial action, thus reducing the shear lag.

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• A braced tube is a variation of the framed tube and was first applied on the
100-story John Hancock Center of 1970 in Chicago.
• However, there are also some disadvantages such as the large brace blocked
some windows.
• In addition, braced tubes are only used for structures with less than 60
stories, due to the fact that the external shell is not as stiff as the framed tube.

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BRACED TUBE SYSTEM

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• Widely spaced columns are stiffen with diagonal bracing to act
as wall-like structure.
• Braces as inclined columns can transfer the gravity loads
from floors and also resist the lateral loads.
• Spacing between exterior columns can be widen and the sizes
of spandrels and columns can be reduced and that helps in bigger
window openings.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BRACED TUBE SYSTEM

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BRACED TUBE SYSTEM

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BUNDLED TUBE SYSTEM
• A bundled tube is a cluster of individual tubes connected together to act as a
single unit.
• Such buildings have interior columns along the perimeters of the tubes when

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they fall within the building envelope.
• For very tall structures, a single framed tube is not adequate, since the width
of the building at its base should be large to maintain a reasonable
slenderness (i.e., height-to-width) ratio such that the building is not
excessively flexible and does not sway too much.
• The system efficiency is considerably diminished in a single framed tube of
enormous height due to shear lag effect.
• For such a structure, the three-dimensional response of the structure could
be improved for strength and stiffness by providing cross walls or cross
frames in the building.

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• The 110-story Sears Tower completed in 1974 was the first bundled tube
structure in which nine steel framed tubes are bundled at the base, some of
which are terminated at various levels along the building’s height with two

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tubes continuing between the 90th floor and the roof.
• Such flexibility of organizing the floor areas, from very large at the base to
much smaller at the top, gave the bundled tube system an added advantage.
• The bundled tube concept also allowed for wider column spacing in the
tubular walls, which made it possible to place interior frame lines without
seriously compromising interior space planning of the building.
• The bundled tube system thus offers great freedom in the architectural
planning by creating a powerful vocabulary for a variety of existing building
forms. Figure 8 shows the bundled tube concept as it was applied to the Sears
Tower.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BUNDLED TUBE SYSTEM

• A cluster of individual tubes connected together to

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act as a single unit.
• Spacing of the columns may be wider in the tubular
walls that helps to place interior frame lines to
better use interior space of the building.
• Addition of Diagonal Bracing further increases the
efficiency of the height of the building.

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BUNDLED TUBE SYSTEM

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: BUNDLED TUBE SYSTEM

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TUBE-IN-TUBE SYSTEM
• The stiffness of a framed tube can also be enhanced by using the core to resist
part of the lateral load resulting in a tube-in-tube system.
• This structure system is a coupled structural system by outer tube around the

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exterior and the inner core (can be a concrete core wall or a steel-framed
tube) is called a tube-in-tube structure.
• The inner braced core and the outer tube are normally connected through the
floor diaphragm; in certain occasions, they are connected through outriggers.
• The core itself could be made up of a solid tube, a braced tube, or a framed
tube.
• It is also possible to introduce more than one tube inside the perimeter tube.
• They work together to resist lateral loads such as the earthquake and wind.
They are also part of the gravity-resistance system.

• Most of the lateral loads are normally taken by the outer tube because the
external tube holds much greater structural significance in comparison to the
internal core due to the structural depth.

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• The inner tube in a tube-in-tube structure can act as a second line of defense
against a malevolent attack with airplanes or missiles. For example, a solid
concrete core in the World Trade Center in New York could probably have
saved many lives of those who were trapped in fire above the levels of
airplane impact.
• Fig. shows the Petronas towers, which is one of the typical tube-in-tube
structures which we will introduce in the next section

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES:
TUBE-IN-TUBE SYSTEM

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• Along with the exterior tube, a core is placed
to resist part of the lateral load.
• Core and the Outer Tube connected by the
floor diaphragm which transfers the lateral
loads to both systems.
• Core may be of solid tube, a braced tube, or a
framed tube.
• The Core or Inner Tube in a Tube-in-Tube
structure can act as a second line of defense.

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: TUBE-IN-TUBE SYSTEM

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Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

Demonstration of the center tube and outer tube for Petronas

Towers

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Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

Ground floor plan layout of Petronas Towers

Demonstration of the structural system for Petronas Towers

Story 42 plan layout of Petronas Towers

Story 80 plan layout of Petronas Towers

DIAGRID SYSTEM
• Among the different lateral stability of the tall buildings, diagrid structure is a
unique structural system, which is increasingly popular in the design of tall
buildings from the past decades.

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• The term “diagrid” is a combination of words “diagonal” and “grid.”
• To a certain extent, a diagrid system is also part of the bracing system, which
originated from the conventional bracing system.
• It consists of huge diagonal bracings sitting on the exterior of the building,
which is normally exposed to the public; therefore, it also becomes one of the
aesthetical components for architects to use.
• The difference between conventional exterior-braced frame structures and
current diagrid structures is that, for diagrid structures, almost all the
conventional vertical columns are eliminated.

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• This is possible because the diagonal members in diagrid structural systems

can carry gravity loads as well as lateral forces due to their triangulated
configuration in a distributive and uniform manner.

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• Compared with conventional framed tubular structures without diagonals,
diagrid structures are much more effective in minimizing shear deformation
because they carry shear by axial action of the diagonal members, while
conventional tubular structures carry shear by the bending of the vertical
columns and horizontal spandrels

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: DIAGRID SYSTEM

• For diagrid structures, almost all the

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

conventional vertical columns are
eliminated.
• Diagonal members in diagrid structural
systems can carry gravity loads as well as
lateral forces due to their triangulated
configuration in a distributive and uniform
manner.
• Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial
forces in the diagonal members.
• Complicated joints

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: DIAGRID SYSTEM

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: DIAGRID SYSTEM

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

Central China Television headquarters

Hearst Tower

EXO-SKELETON SYSTEM
• In exoskeleton structures, lateral load-resisting systems are placed outside the
building lines away from their facades. Examples include Hotel de las Artes in
Barcelona.

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• Due to the system’s compositional characteristics, it acts as a primary
building identifier – one of the major roles of building facades in general
cases.
• Fire proofing of the system is not a serious issue due to its location outside
the building line.
• However, thermal expansion/contraction of the system, exposed to the ever-
changing outdoor weather, and the systemic thermal bridges should be
carefully considered during design.

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: EXO-SKELETON SYSTEM

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• In this type of structure, lateral load-
resisting systems are placed outside
the building lines away from their
facades.
• It acts as a primary building
identifier.
• The interior floor is never obstructed
by perimeter columns.

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

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SPACE TRUSS STRUCTURES

• Space truss structures are modified braced tubes with diagonals connecting the
exterior to interior.
• In a typical braced tube structure, all the diagonals, which connect the chord

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

members – vertical corner columns in general, are located on the plane parallel to
the facades. However, in space trusses, some diagonals penetrate the interior of the
building
• The primary load-resisting system of a space structure consists essentially of a three-
dimensional triangulated frame—as distinct from an assembly of planar bents—whose
members serve dually in resisting both gravity and horizontal loading. The result is a
highly efficient, relatively lightweight structure with a potential for achieving the
greatest heights. The 76-story Hong Kong Bank of China Building (Fig. 4.20) is a classic
example of this structural form.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: SPACE TRUSS SYSTEM

• Space truss structures are modified braced

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

tubes with diagonals connecting the exterior
to interior.
• In space trusses, diagonals penetrate the
interior of the building whereas in a typical
braced tube structure, all the diagonals parallel
to the facades only on exterior
• Efficiently resists lateral shear by axial forces
in the space truss members
• May obstruct the view

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SUPERFRAME SYSTEM
• Superframes or megaframes assume the form of a portal which is provided on the
exterior of the building.
• The portal frame of the superframe is composed of vertical legs (mega columns)

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

comprising braced frames of large dimensions at building corners, which are linked
by horizontal elements (multi-story trusses) at about every 12 to 14 floors.
• Since the vertical elements are concentrated in the corner areas of the building,
maximum efficiency is obtained for resisting wind forces.
• The concept of super frame can be used in various ways for tall buildings, such as the
56-story tall Parque Central Complex Towers of 1979 in Caracas, Venezuela and the
168-story tall Chicago World Trade Center proposed by Fazlur Khan in 1982.

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EXTERIOR STRUCTURES:
SUPERFRAME STRUCTURE

Dr. Gaurang Vesmawala

• A super frame is composed of mega
columns comprising braced frames of
large dimensions at building corners,
linked by multistory trusses at about
every 15 to 20 stories.
• These links are designed to reduce
lateral displacement, lateral story drift
and enhancing total stability.

EXTERIOR STRUCTURES: SUPERFRAME STRUCTURE

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----- Thanks -----

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