BURJ KHALIFA

earthquake resistant building design

1.INTRODUCTION GENERAL INFORMATION

 Official Name: Burj Khalifa Bin Zayed

 Also Known As: Burj Dubai Built: 2004-2010
 Cost: $4,100,000,000 Designed By: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
 Structural engineer : William F. Baker Main contractor: Samsung C&T
 Developer: Emaar Properties
 Type: Skyscraper
 Total Stories: 206
 Inhabited Stories :106
 Elevators: 57 , speed:10m/sc
 Maximum Height: 2,717 Feet / 828 Meters
 Total area: 4,000,000 sq.m
 Location: No. 1, Burj Dubai Boulevard, Dubai, United
 LATERAL LOAD RESISTING SYSTEM :
 The consideration loads on the tower The tower’s lateral load resisting
system consists of high performance, reinforced concrete ductile core walls
linked to the exterior reinforced concrete columns through a series of
reinforced concrete shear wall panels at the mechanical levels.
 The core walls vary in thickness from 1300mm to 500mm.
 The core walls are typically linked through a series of 800mm to 1100mm
deep reinforced concrete link beams at every level.
 These composite ductile link beams typically consist of steel shear plates, or
structural steel built- up I-shaped beams, with shear studs embedded in the
concrete section.
 The link beam width typically matches the adjacent core wall thickness .
 At the top of the center reinforced concrete core wall, a very tall spire tops the
building, making it the tallest tower in the world in all categories.
 The lateral load resisting system of the spire consists of a diagonal structural
steel bracing system from level 156 to the top of the spire at approximately
750 meter above the ground.
 The pinnacle consists of structural steel pipe section varying from 2100mm
diameter x 60mm thick at the base to 1200mm diameter x 30mm thick at the
top (828m).
 Gravity Load Management
 Gravity Load Management : The consideration loads on the tower: Gravity load
management is also critical as it has direct impact on the overall efficiency and
performance of the tower and it should be addressed at the early design stage,
during the development and integration of the architectural and structural design
concept.
 The limitations on the wall thicknesses (500-600mm) of the center core and the
wing walls thickness (600mm) allowed, art of working with concrete, the gravity
load to flow freely into the center corridor Spine web walls (650mm) to the hammer
head walls and nose columns for maximum resistance to lateral loads.
 Core wall elevation Wing B core wall elevation Set back level Outrigger wall Wind
Engineering Management The consideration loads on the tower The wind
engineering management of Burj Khalifa was achieved by : Varying the building
shape along the height while continuing, without interruption, the building gravity
and lateral load resisting system. reducing the floor plan along the height, thus
effectively tapering the building profile.
 Using the building shapes to introduce spoiler type of effects along the entire height
of the tower, including the pinnacle, to reduce the dynamic wind excitations.
Change the orientation of the tower in response to wind directionality, thus
stiffening the structure normal to the worst wind direction. Importance of wind loads
Building height Relationship between importance of wind and height
 Earthquake Analysis : The consideration loads on the tower: Dubai outside the
scope of the seismic activity . Liquefaction analysis of Burj Khalifa soil showed that
it is not a problem Burj Khalifa is located in Dubai, which is a UBC97 Zone 2a
seismic region (with a seismic zone factor Z = 0.15 and soil profile Sc). Thus
Earthquake loads did not govern the concrete tower design (wind loads govern) but
it does govern the design of the steel spire above the concrete tower.