Structural System

Structural System
“The Structural System will depend on

functional, technical and aesthetic requirements,

and it is important to take a global approach

when considering optimum design solutions”.

 Factors Affecting Choice of Structural
Systems
 The design should ensure a coordinated approach including
structure, envelope, services and finishes.
 The principal decisions regarding structure relate to column
layout, foundation conditions, integration of building services,
and external wall construction.
 The design of steel framed buildings encompasses not only the
structure, but also the building envelope, services and finishes.
All these elements must be coordinated by a firm dimensional
discipline which recognizes the modular nature of the
components to ensure maximum repetition and standardizations
in the predetermined grid layout.
 Types of Structural System
Followings are the three types of Structural System:
 Load-bearing wall construction

 Skeleton framing

 Combination of the two

Factors Governing Types
Selection

 Economics – not necessary the one that

requires the least structural materials

 Architectural, Mechanical, Electrical and

other costs may be affected

1. Load Bearing Walls

Load Bearing Walls serves as:

 Facades

 Enclosures

 Separators

 Fire barriers

 Carry floor & roof loads to

the foundation
 Load-Bearing Wood Walls:
 One to three storey buildings
(Houses)
 2’ x 4’ or 2’ x 6’ construction
 Studs on 16” to 24” centers
 Top & Bottom plates
 Headers
 Max. Wall ht. (Unsupported) =
15’
Load-Bearing Masonry Walls:

 10 Storeys or More

 Thickness of Walls vary depending on height

 Trapezoidal cross section

 Lintels or arches at openings

Load-Bearing reinforced
concrete Walls:
 Thinner than Masonry
 Solid or Cavity

Load-Bearing Walls are used

for:
 Exterior
 Interior Partitions
 Wind Bracing
 Service Core Enclosure
Load-Bearing Partitions:

 Short intervals

 Carry Floor/Ceiling Loads

Load-Bearing walls:

 Can serve as Shear Walls = Resists Wind & Earthquake

(Seismic) Loads
2. Skeleton Framing
Skeleton Framing serves as:

 Columns carry Foundation

 Lateral Forces resisted by

Columns and Diagonal Braces, or

Rigid Frame
Horizontal Structural Slab or Deck:

 Floor/Ceiling/Ducts

 Flat – Plate Construction

 Flat – Slab reinforced concrete

 Slab – Band Construction

 Two Way Slabs

Beam & Girder Construction:
 Wood joist or Rafters on 16” to 24” centers W/lumber

or Plywood Decking

 Open Web Steel Joist

 Light, Rolled-Steel Beams

 Pre-cast Concrete Planks

Heavier Load / Longer Spans:
 One – Way Ribbed Concrete Slabs
 Two – Way Waffle Slab
 Pre-stressed Concrete Planks, Tees, Double Tees or
Girders
 Laminated Wood Girders
 Structural Steel Beams & Girders
Multi-Storey Medium
Span
Structures
 Multi-Storey Buildings
 Why Multi-Storey Buildings are made?
 Large Urban Population
 Expensive Land
o Multi-Storey Buildings make more efficient use of land:
Higher the building (More Storeys ) – Larger the ratio of the building
Floor area to the used land area
o Technological competition (very High buildings)
o Until the end of the 18th century most buildings of several storeys in the
Western World were made of:
 Continuous Walls of brick or stone masonry supporting the roof
 Floor from timber beams
o The same structural system used in the Roman City of Herculaneum
 Multi-Storey buildings beginnings
 Beginning of the 19th century – forefront of industrial revolution in
England:
 Demand for large factory buildings of several storeys and large clear
floor areas
 Cast iron available in bulk
 Cast iron columns used instead of bearing walls and cast iron beams in
stead of timber floor joists.
 Elevator invented in USA in 1870, enabling much taller office and
apartment buildings to be constructed
 Most multi-Storey buildings in USA were still making use of
masonry walls instead of columns
Forms of Multi-Storey Buildings
Followings are the three Forms of Multi-Storey Buildings:

1. Non – Continuous Columns with Continuous Beams

2. Continuous Multi-Storey Columns and Beams

3. Cross - Wall Construction

 1. Non – Continuous Columns and
Continuous Beams:

 Single Storey columns are jointed at each floor level. Pre-cast

edge beams or internal spine beams are erected over these

columns and are connected using high strength dowel bars in

grouted dowel tubes cast in the both the beams and columns.
 2. Continuous Multi-Storey Columns
and Beams
 Multi-Storey Columns up to four storeys tall are commonly

used as perimeters columns with integrated corbel details.

For buildings taller than four storeys, columns in two storey

lengths are used at higher levels with designed tie

connections at the column joints. Columns can be

manufactured economically in the lengths of up to 14m.

 3. Cross – Wall Construction
 Cross – Walls Multi-Storey Structures consists of flooring and

Load-Bearing walls, where the walls support the floors and the

structure above. Lateral stability is provided transversely across

the building by the cross-wall system and longitudinally by stairs

and lift shaft cores, which are also formed by pre-cast wall

panels. This type of construction is ideal for buildings of cellular

structure, for example Hotels, Office or Apartment Blocks.

 Benefits
 Unaffected by the site weather conditions
 Competitive Pricing
 Factory Production to exacting quality standards
 Speed of erection
 Efficient and economic structure, based on earlier completion
period
 Reduced down-stand beam depth which maximize floor to
ceiling height
 Increase design flexibility to cater for all situations
 Excellent sound insulation and fire resistance, inherent in all
pre-cast products.
 Structural Elements
Followings are the Structural Elements used in
Multi-Storey Building:
 Columns
 Beams
 Plates
 Arches
 Shells
 Catenaries
 Columns:
 Columns are elements that carry only axial force – either

tension or compression – or both axial force and bending

(which is technically called a beam-column but practically,

just a column). The design of a column must check the axial

capacity of element and buckling capacity.

 Beams:
A Beam may be:
 Cantilevered supported at one end only with a fixed connection
 Simply supported (supported vertically at each end but able to rotate
at the supports)
 Continuous (supported by three or more supports)
 Combination of the above (Supported at one end and in the middle)
Beams are elements which carry pure bending only. Bending
causes one section of a Beam (divided along its length) to go into
compression and the other section into tension. The compression
section must be designed to resist buckling and crushing, while the
tension section must be able to adequately resist the tension.
 Plates:
 Plates carry bending in two directions. A concrete flat slab is an

example of a plate. Plates are understood by using Continuum

Mechanics, but due to the complexity involved they are most

often designed using a codified empirical approach, or

computer analysis.

 They can also be designed with yield line theory, where an

assumed collapse mechanism is analyzed to give an upper

bound on the collapse load. This is rarely used in practice.

 Shells:
 Shells derive their strength from their form and carry forces in

compression in two directions. A dome is an example of Shell.

They can be designed by making a hanging-chain model, which

will act as a catenary's in pure tension and inverting the form to

achieve pure compression.

 Arches:
 Arches carry forces in compression in one direction only

which is why, it is appropriate to build arches out of masonry.

They are designed by ensuring that the line of thrust of the

force remains within the depth of the arch.

 Catenaries:
 Catenaries derive their strength from their form and

carry transverse forces in pure tension by deflecting (just

as a tightrope will sag when someone walks on it). They

are almost always cable or fabric structure. A fabric

structure acts as catenaries in two directions.

Large Span Structure
 Structural Forms
Followings are the structural Forms used for large
span structure:
 Beam Structures
 Portals and Arches
 Masted Structures
 Space Frames
 Umbrella Structures
 Cable Structures
 Beam Structures
 Structures consisting of beams supported on columns are simple

and commonly used, especially where the minimum internal

volume is required.
 Portal and Arches
 Arches, which can take a variety of forms, are efficient
structures for long span roofs.
 Masted Structures
 The concept of Masted Structures is not new, but they have only
recently become popular as a means of providing lightweight
structures for general use.
 Space Frames
 Space Structures are efficient three-dimensional structural
assemblies which can take a variety of forms.
 Umbrella Structures
 The final option for consideration is the umbrella or tree structures
in which the roof cantilevers from a central column and can be
repeated and joined to other similar assemblies at each or any side
to form a continuous structures
 Cable Structures
 Cables – Good resistance in tension, but no strength in compression
 Tent:
 A cable structure consisting of waterproofing membrane supported
by ropes or cables and posts
 Cable must be maintained in tension by pre-stressing in order to
avoid large vibrations under wind forces and avoid collapse
 Cables : Roof Structures
 Cables in a cable – supported roof
must be maintained in tension
easily achieved if the roof is
saddle-shaped
 Example: Hyperbolic paraboloid
with curvatures in opposite sense
in directions at right angles
o Cables hung in direction BD
o A second set of cables placed
over them, parallel to direction
AC and put to tension
o Cables from the second set press
down on those from the first one.
Putting them into tension as well :
Fully–tensioned network
 Example: One of the first doubly
curved saddle-shaped cable
supported roof was the Dorton
Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina,
build in 1952.
o The building was dimensions of
92m x 97m.
o The roof is suspended between
two parabolic arches in reinforced
concrete intercrossing each other
and supported by the columns.
o The cable network consists of 47
pre-stressed cables with diameter
varying from 19mm to 33mm.
 Cables: Suspension Bridge
 Suspension Bridges:The simple design of early bridges:
 Cables ( catenaries)
 Light deck
 Hangers suspending the deck on catenaries
 Lack of stability in high winds
 Very flexible under concentrated loads, as the form of the cable
will adapt to loading form
 Example: Capilano Suspension Bridge, Canada.
 Continue:
 Improved behavior under traffic and wind loads:

 Stiffening trusses at the level of the deck that distributes

concentrated loads over greater lengths

 Alternatively: restrain vertical movement of the catenaries by

inclined cables attached to the top of the towers or below the deck
 Example: The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Japan: 1991m span
 Example: Golden Gate Bridge, California, USA: 1280m span
 Example: Brooklyn Bridge, USA ( The largest from 1883 until
1903): 486m span
 Famous Collapse:
 Tacoma Narrows Bridge, USA, collapsed on November 7, 1940
due to wind-induced vibrations. It had been open for traffic for a
few months only before collapsing.
 Cables-Stayed Bridge
 A cables-stayed Bridge consists of one or more piers, with cables
supporting the bridge deck
 Basic idea: reduce the span of the beam (deck) several times
compared to the clear span between the piers
 Steel cable-stayed Bridges are regarded as the most economical
bridge design for the spans ranging between 200m and 400m
 Shorter span: truss or box girder bridges
 Larger spans: suspension bridges
 Example: Rio-Antirio Bridge in Greece, longest span: 560m. Total
length: 2880m.
 Example: The Millau Viaduct, France. Longest span: 342m. Total
length: 2460m.