BRACING

IN
STEEL STRUCTURES
 Bracing
Bracing is a system utilized in a structures, in which diagonal
supports intersect. bracing can increase a building’s capability to
withstand the lateral forces .it helps keep a structure standing.
bracing is usually seen with two diagonal supports placed in an X
shaped manner; these support compression and tension forces.
Depending on the forces, one brace may be in tension while the
other is slack. It helps make buildings sturdier and more likely to
withstand lateral forces.
 Classification of Structural Systems
1. Rigid frame systems

2. Shear-walled frame systems

3. Outrigger and belt truss systems

4. Framed-tube systems

5. Braced-tube systems

6. Bundled-tube systems

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 Rigid or Moment-resisting Frames

Rigid or moment-resisting frames are structures having the traditional
beam-column framing. The joints in these frames are considered rigid,
because it is assumed that beam-to-column connections have enough
rigidity to hold the nearly unchanged original angles between
intersecting components.

Rigid frames carry the gravity loads that are imposed on the floor
system. The floors also function as horizontal diaphragms that transfer
lateral forces to the girders and columns.

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 Rigid or Moment-resisting Frames

The girders or beams resist high moments and shears at the ends of
their lengths, which are, in turn, transferred to the column system.

Rigid frame systems are not efficient for buildings with more than 20
storeys, because lateral deflection due to the bending of columns
causes excessive drift.

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Rigid or Moment-resisting Frames

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 Shear-walled Frame Systems

Shear walls are vertical, cantilevered walls, which resist lateral wind
and seismic loads acting on a building transmitted to them by the floor
diaphragms.

RC shear walls have the ability to dampen vibration and provide
mass to a building.

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 Shear-walled Frame Systems

Shear walls often exist as core walls surrounding internal services such
as elevators and stairwells. When carefully planned, these walls may be
used as partitions in a structure serving as both gravity and lateral load
resisting systems.

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 Outrigger and Belt Truss Systems

The outrigger system comprises a central core, including either
braced frames or shear walls, with horizontal ‘outrigger’ trusses or
girders connecting the core to the external columns. They can resist
high wind forces.

If the building is subjected to horizontal loading, the rotation of the
core is prevented by the column-restrained outriggers.

Multi-storey outriggers have better lateral resistance than single-

storey outrigger structures and thus better efficiency in the structural
behaviour.

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 Outrigger and Belt Truss Systems

The outriggers and belt girder are often one or two storeys deep to
provide adequate stiffness. They are generally positioned at plant levels
to reduce the obstruction created by them.

Multi-storey outriggers have better lateral resistance than single-

storey outrigger structures and thus better efficiency in the structural
behaviour.

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Outrigger and Belt Truss Systems

Fig. 2.21 Outrigger and belt truss system (a) Typical plan and section (b) Jin Mao Building,
Shanghai, China (c) Taipei 101, Taipei

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 Framed-tube Systems

A framed tube consists of closely spaced perimeter columns
interconnected by deep spandrels, so that the whole building works as
a huge vertical cantilever tube to resist overturning moments. Window
openings usually cover about 50 per cent of the exterior wall surface.

It is an efficient system to provide lateral resistance with or without

interior columns. The exterior tube carries all the lateral loading.

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 Framed-tube Systems

Gravity loading is shared by the tube and the interior column or
shear walls, if any.

Besides its structural efficiency, framed-tube buildings leave the

interior floor plan relatively free of core bracing and heavy columns,
enhancing the net usable floor area, as a result of the perimeter framing
system resisting the entire lateral load.

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Framed-tube Systems

Fig. 2.22 Framed-tube system (a) Typical framing

(b) DeWitt-Chestnut apartment building in Chicago
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 Braced-tube Systems

By adding multi-storey diagonal bracings to the face of the tube, the
rigidity and efficiency of the framed-tube can be improved. The
resulting system called braced-tube system, or trussed-tube system,
could be utilized for greater heights and allows larger spacing between
the columns.

The bracing helps the perimeter columns to act together in carrying

both gravity and horizontal wind loads.

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Braced-tube Systems

Fig. 2.23 Braced-tube systems (a) Typical bracing

(b) Onterie Center, Chicago
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 Tube-in-tube and Bundled-tube
Systems
Tube-in-tube System
1. 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 as
shown in Fig. 2.24(a).

2. The floor diaphragm connecting the core and the outer tube transfer
the lateral loads to both the tubes.

3. 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.

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 Tube-in-tube and Bundled-tube
Systems
Bundled Tube System
1. Bundled tube or a modular tube is a cluster of tubes interconnected
with common interior panels to generate a perforated multicell tube
as shown in Fig. 2.24(b). This is used to give adequate structural
efficiency to a larger building dimension.

(a) Tube-in-tube system

(b) Bundled-tube systems

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