FALL 2013
Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Tall Buildings
by
Bushra Marium Islam
Numerical and experimental analyses are performed on tall buildings under
lateral loading. Static lateral loading is used to observe the deflection of
tall buildings; 60- and 90-storied tube and diagrid systems (scale 1:120) for
the entire work. Basic models of these two systems are observed to see how tall
buildings deflect under lateral static loading. ETABS is used for the numerical
analysis and six tall building models (four 60-storied, two 90-storied) are
constructed for lab experiments. The loading arrangements are also constructed
and all tall building models are experimented with the loading arrangement.
There are several parametric studies done by ETABS to stimulate the experimental
results to observe how the interior columns effect deflections of tall
buildings. The results for numerical and experimental analysis are compared
under different conditions, for two different structural systems (tube and
diagrid) and also for deflection at different heights.
Except in a few cases, the numerical results do not match the experimental
results too well in general, the worst scenarios being for the 90-storied
structures. The basic diagrid system performs better compared to the basic
framed tube system studied here. The parametric studies show that the interior
columns do not increase the structural stiffness (of the tube or diagrid system)
significantly.
The set up of structural
models and lateral static load arrangement in the lab prove to be a challenge
due to the complexity of the structures as well as the support system. The
various efforts attempted in this work can be of help for future research on
tall buildings.