BMCT Unit 1 (Concise)

BUILDING MATERIALS & CONSTRUCTION
TECHNOLOGY VIII
AR802
UNIT 1
High rise buildings- structural design, issues,

constraints, materials, wind bracing,
fabrication, equipment, maintenance and
environmental issues
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
Till mid 1800's the maximum height for the buildings was 4-6 stories
due to several factors:
1. Too many steps to climb up & down daily

2. Masonry wall thickness is too high at base, eating up floor space
3. Framing could go up so high before become unstable in wind
Inventions of
• MASS PRODUCTION OF STEEL and DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH STRENGTH

STEEL (1855)
• DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN ELECTRICITY & PLUMBING SYSTEMS
• PASSENGER ELEVATOR (1857)

HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
• Gravity loads
– Dead loads
– Live loads
– Snow loads
• Lateral loads
– Wind loads
– Seismic loads
• Special load
cases
– Impact loads
– Blast loads
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
overturning
bending shear racking
• The primary structural skeleton of a tall building

can be visualized as a vertical cantilever beam
with its base fixed in the ground.
• The structure has to carry the vertical gravity loads,
lateral wind and earthquake loads.
• Lateral loads tend to snap the building or topple it.
• The building must therefore have adequate
shear and bending resistance and must not lose
its vertical load-carrying capability.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF STRUCTURAL SYSTEM OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING
The classification is based on the distribution of the components

of the primary lateral load-resisting system over the building.
1. Interior System - is the interior structure when the major part of the lateral
load resisting system is located within the interior of the building.
2. Exterior System - is the exterior structure when the major part of the lateral
load-resisting system is located at the building perimeter.
However, any interior structure is likely to have some minor components of

the lateral load-resisting system at the building perimeter and any exterior
structure may have some minor components within the interior of the
building.
1. Interior System 2. Exterior System
• By clustering steel columns and beams in • In structures where engineers have moved
the core, engineers create a stiff backbone the columns and beams from the core to
that can resist tremendous wind forces. the perimeter, creating a hollow, rigid tube
• The inner core is used as an elevator shaft, as strong as the core design, but weighing
and the design allows lots of open space much, much less. Eg: The Sears Tower,
on each floor. Chicago,
1. Interior System
a. Rigid Frames System
b. Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System
c. Frame Shear Interaction System
d. Outrigger Structures
a.) Interior System: Rigid Frames System
• Rigid Frame or moment - resisting frames (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.
• The size of the columns is mainly

controlled by the gravity loads.
Progressively column sizes
increases towards the base.
• The size of the girders, is

controlled by stiffness of the
frame to ensure acceptable
lateral sway of the building.
• Can build up to 20 to 30 floors.

a.) Example of Rigid Frames System
860 & 880 Lake Shore Apartments

Seagram building (1958) Manhattan, New
(1949) Chicago, 82m, 26 stories,
York, 157m, 38 stories, Mies van der Rohe
Mies van der Rohe
b.) Interior System : Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System
In this system the structure of the whole building is

structurally conceptualized as vertical steel trusses,
also called shear trusses.
This system introduce braced frames for lateral

support, which resist lateral loads primarily through
axial stiffness of the members.
Vertical Shear Truss System can effectively resist

lateral forces caused by wind and earthquakes.
They are treated as vertical cantilevers fixed at the

base.
b.) Interior System: Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System
b.) Interior System: Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System
b.) Example of Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System
77 West Wacker drive Chicago, USA, 203m, 50

storied
c.) Interior System: Frame Shear Interaction System
• Rigid Frame is not efficient for buildings over 30 stories because the
sway caused by the bending of columns is excessive. When vertical
Shear Trusses are combined with Rigid Frame, the interactive system,
results in more efficient structure to resist gravity and lateral loads.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF STRUCTURAL
CLASSIFICATIONS SYSTEMSYSTEM
OF STRUCTURAL OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING
OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING
c.) Example for Frame Shear Interaction System
The Empire State Building (1931) New 311 South Wacker Drive (1949)
York, 381m, 102 storied) Chicago,
293m, 65 storied
d.) Interior System: Outrigger Structures

• Outriggers serve to reduce the overturning moment in the building
core that would otherwise act as pure cantilever.
• The outriggers are generally in the form of trusses (1

or 2 story deep) in steel structures, or walls in
concrete structures, that effectively act as stiff
headers inducing tension- compression couple in
the outer columns.
• Belt trusses are often provided to distribute the
tensile and compressive forces to a large number
of exterior frame columns.
• Can build up to 150 floors. Shanghai World Financial Center
Taipei 101 (2004) Taiwan, 509m, Jin Mao Building (1999) Shanghai, China,
101 storied 421m, 88 storied
Interior System:
Exterior System:
• If the major part of the lateral load-resisting system is located at the

building perimeter, a system is categorized as an exterior structure.
• It is desirable to provide lateral load-resisting system components as far as
possible on
the perimeter of tall buildings to increase their structural depth.
• Basic exterior structures are called tubes.
• It can be defined as a three-dimensional structural system utilizing the
entire building perimeter to resist lateral loads.
• In the simplest incarnation of the tube, the perimeter of the exterior

consists of closely spaced columns that are tied together with deep
spandrel beams through moment connections.
• This assembly of columns and beams forms a rigid frame that amounts
to a dense and strong structural wall along the exterior of the building.
Exterior System:
Framed Tube
Braced Tube
Frame Tube
System
Tube in Tube
Diagrid
Bundled tube
Exterior system Space Truss
Structures
super frames
Exo-skeleton
Exterior System: Framed Tube System

• 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).
• Practical spandrel beam depths should vary from 24 to 48in (600 to 1200mm).
• In the resulting structural organization, the lateral load is resisted by the whole tube.

Water Tower Place (1975) Aon Center (1973) Chicago, WTC (1971) New York, 417m,
Chicago, 262m, 74 storied 346m, 83 storied 110 storied
Exterior System: Braced Tube System
• It is possible to stiffen the building structure by introducing diagonal braces.

• Introduction of Diagonals also increase the spacing of columns in frame tube.
• The diagonals participate in dual role action as it collect gravity loads from floors as
inclined columns also act as a stiffener in case of lateral loads.
• The system is more rigid and also the gravity load can be channelized through diagonals
as well making the load more distributed.

John Hancock Center (1970) Chicago, Onterie Center (1986) Chicago,

344m, 100 storied 174m, 58 storied
Exterior System: Tube in Tube System

• The stiffness of a Framed Tube can be further enhanced by using a core tube to
resist part of the lateral load resulting in a tube-in-tube system.
• The floor diaphragm connecting the core and the outer tube transfer the lateral
loads to both systems.
• It is also possible to introduce more than one tube inside the perimeter tube.

181 West Madison Street, Chicago,

207m, 50 storied
Exterior System: Bundled Tube System
• In tall buildings with larger floor areas, simple frame tube system become very
uneconomical structural solution.
• To overcome this, many frame tubes are symmetrically grouped together to create
larger floor space.
• Further these grouping of frame tubes (called bundled tubes) are actively participate
to transmit the super-structure load to the ground as well as provide the lateral
stability against the transverse loading.

Sears Tower (1973) Chicago, 442m, Burj Khalifa (2010) Dubai, 828m, 163
108 storied habitable floors plus 46 maintenance
levels
Exterior System: Diagrid

• With their structural efficiency as a varied version of the
tubular systems, diagrid structures have been emerging as a
new aesthetic trend for tall buildings in this era of pluralistic
styles.
• Almost all the conventional vertical columns are eliminated.
• This is possible because the diagonal members in diagrid can
carry gravity loads as well as lateral forces.
• The distribution of load is possible in uniform manner due to
the triangulated configuration.
Exterior System: Diagrid
Hearst Building (2006) New York, Swiss Re Building (2004) London,

182m, 46 storied 181m, 41 storied
Exterior System: Space Truss

• 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 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.
Bank of China, Hong Kong

Exterior System: Exo skeleton
• In exoskeleton structures, lateral load-resisting systems are placed

outside the building lines away from their facades.
• The system is associated with other conventional types.
• Due to the system's compositional characteristics, it acts as a
primary building identifier.
Exterior System: Exo skeleton
Hotel de las Artes Barcelona, Spain Burj Al Arab

OF STRUCTURE OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING
Exterior System: Super Frames
• A super-frame is composed of mega columns comprising braced

frames of large dimensions at building corners.
• Like exo-skeleton, the system is also associated with other
conventional types.
• The mega columns usually linked by multi-storey trusses at about
every 15 to 20 stories.
OF STRUCTURE OF HIGH-RISE BUILDING
Exterior System: Super Frames
Parque Central Tower (1979) Caracas,

Venezuela, 221m, 56 storied
FORM WORKS FOR HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
• Formwork is essentially a temporary mold or framework used in building construction to
support and shape freshly poured concrete until it sets and hardens.
• In high-rise building construction, the choice of formwork is crucial for ensuring safety,
efficiency, and quality.
Some of the types of formwork materials

used:
• Timber formwork: This classic method
uses timber panels and beams to create
moulds for concrete pouring. It's
flexible and adaptable, but labor-
intensive and less reusable.
• Steel formwork: Steel provides
robustness and durability, offering
faster construction and multiple reuses.
However, it's more expensive and
heavier than timber.
• Aluminium formwork: Lighter and
easier to handle than steel, aluminium
offers good finish and reusability. But
it's less robust and can be more costly.
Types of formwork systems used for high rise buildings,
1. Slip form work
2. Jump form work/ climbing formwork
3. Table formwork
4. System column formwork
5. Tunnel formwork
ENCLOSURE SYSTEMS IN HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
• Enclosure systems in high-rise building construction refer to the elements that

enclose the building, providing protection from the external environment and
contributing to its overall structural integrity, energy efficiency, and aesthetic
appeal.
• Types
 Barrier wall system
Double skin facade system
Rain screens
Curtain wall system- Stick system and unitized system
 Structural glazing
Barrier Wall Systems:

• A barrier wall is designed and constructed to shed all water, thereby preventing any
moisture from penetrating beyond the outermost surface and into the wall itself.
• Barrier walls are essentially moisture-tight constructions.
• Beneath the barrier's outer skin, the underlying materials and building interior are kept
dry.
• Barrier walls rely on the integrity of the outermost surfaces and construction joints, and
are considered a cost-effective alternative to cavity or solid wall assemblies.
• The cladding material should be impervious to the elements.
• Common examples of barrier wall systems include:
 Single-skin metal wall panels.
 Solid-metal wall cladding.
 Precast concrete panels.
 Insulated metal-wall panels.
Barrier Wall Systems:

• The exterior cladding in a barrier wall system serves as the main drainage plane –
the element exposed to the weather.
Double skin facade system
• A double skin facade is a structural

term that refers to the two facades of a
building, typically the vertical element,
with a cavity in between them.
• Within that cavity is an air flow, keeping
a building’s interior spaces warmer in
the winter and cooler in the summer.
• The ventilation of the cavity can be
natural, fan supported or mechanical.
• Apart form the type of ventilation inside the cavity, the origin and destination of
the air can differ depending mostly on the climatic conditions, the use, location,
occupational hours of the building and the HVAC strategy.

Motorised opening in a naturally

ventilated double facade permitting the
shift from one ventilation mode to
another.
Rain screen
• A rain screen is an exterior wall detail where
the siding (wall cladding) stands off from the
moisture resistant surface of an air barrier
applied to the sheathing to create a capillary
break and to allow drainage and
evaporation.
• In terms of dealing with rainwater
penetration, the most effective method for
removing the most amount of water in the
shortest amount of time would be drainage.,
which is gravity-driven drainage of water
down and then eventually out.
• We also need to consider ventilation and the
air movement behind cladding over
sheathing as a powerful mechanism,
because even though drainage is effective,
once drainage stops, it still leaves droplets
on surfaces and materials soaking wet.
Ventilation can help in drying that.
Rain screen
• The rain screen is the siding itself but the term rain screen implies a system of
building.
• Ideally the rain screen prevents the wall air/ moisture barrier on sheathing from
getting wet.
• A water resistant membrane is placed between the furring and the sheathing to
prevent rain water from entering the wall structure.
• The membrane directs water away and towards special drip edge flashing which
protects other parts of the building.
Curtain Wall Systems

• Curtain walls separate the interior from the exterior, but only support their own weight
and the loads imposed on them (such as wind loads, seismic loads, and so on) which they
transfer back to the primary structure of the building.
• This is in contrast to many forms of traditional construction in which the external walls are
a fundamental part of the primary structure of the building.
• They are typically made of lightweight materials such as aluminium frames with glass or
metal panels.
• Curtain walls allow for maximum natural light and provide an aesthetically pleasing facade.
Primary, secondary and tertiary layers of structure

the primary secondary and tertiary layers of structure

Curtain Wall Systems: Stick system
• The vast majority of curtain walls are installed as long pieces (referred to as sticks)
between floors vertically and between vertical members horizontally.
• Framing members may be fabricated in a shop, but all installation and glazing is typically
performed at the jobsite.
Curtain Wall Systems: Unitized system
• Unitized curtain walls entail factory fabrication and assembly of panels and
may include factory glazing.
• These completed units are hung on the building structure to form the building
enclosure.
• Unitized curtain wall has the advantages of: speed; lower field installation
costs; and quality control within an interior climate controlled environment.
• The economic benefits are typically realized on large projects or in areas of
high field labor rates.
• The installation is time saving therefore ensuring the progress for projects.
• This systems are becoming more utilized in buildings because of their ease of
assembly on the site and the tight controls that they can be made in the shop
before for coming to the job site.
Curtain Wall Systems: Unitized system
Disadvantages
• The installation work need to be done by high-skilled workers.
• The price of unitized curtain wall is higher than sticks.
• The transportation of panels is more complicated.
Structural glazing
• Structural glazing is a method where

glass panels are directly attached to
the building's structural framework
without the use of visible framing
elements, such as mullions and
transoms.
• The system relies on specialized
adhesives and fasteners to support
the glass panels, creating a sleek and
modern aesthetic.
Structural glazing
Cladding materials
1. Glass:
• Glass curtain walls are a popular

choice for high-rise buildings,
providing a sleek and modern
appearance. They allow natural
light into the building and offer
panoramic views.
• Reflective Glass: Reflective glass
helps control solar heat gain and
glare, improving energy
efficiency.
Cladding materials
2. HPL (High-Pressure Laminate):
• Can be exposed to the combined action of sunlight and atmospheric agents including
rain, hail or wind.
• These are not affected by thermal shocks and have the ability to withstand extreme
climate changes.
• Further, these reduce the amount of water that is absorbed and provide protection
against chemical or air pollution.
Cladding materials
3. Aluminium:
• Aluminum Composite Panels consists of layers of aluminum sheets bonded to a non-

aluminum core.
• It's lightweight, durable, and offers design versatility.
Cladding materials
4. Zinc cladding
• An innovative system that has qualities like long-lasting, malleable, flexible and
aesthetically appealing.
• Zinc is corrosion-resistant and develops a natural patina over time, giving buildings a
distinctive appearance.
Cladding materials
5. Stainless steel wall cladding
• Commonly used in today’s buildings

creating a striking architectural effect.
• Unlike most other types of facade
material, stainless steel is available in an
array of finishes, patterns, dimpled,
textured, embossed and coloured
finishes.
• Some of these aspects enhance
durability and prevent wear and tear in
high-traffic areas.
• Stainless steel is an incredibly versatile
material, it can be rolled, folded or
pressed into almost any shape.
• It is also one of the most robust and
sustainable materials due to its superior
corrosion resistance and is recyclable.
Cladding materials
Titanium cladding:
THANK YOU

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BUILDING MATERIALS & CONSTRUCTION

High rise buildings- structural design, issues,

1. Too many steps to climb up & down daily

• MASS PRODUCTION OF STEEL and DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH STRENGTH

• DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN ELECTRICITY & PLUMBING SYSTEMS

• PASSENGER ELEVATOR (1857)

• The primary structural skeleton of a tall building

The classification is based on the distribution of the components

However, any interior structure is likely to have some minor components of

a. Rigid Frames System

b. Vertical Shear Wall (or Shear Truss) System

c. Frame Shear Interaction System

• The size of the columns is mainly

• The size of the girders, is

• Can build up to 20 to 30 floors.

860 & 880 Lake Shore Apartments

In this system the structure of the whole building is

This system introduce braced frames for lateral

Vertical Shear Truss System can effectively resist

They are treated as vertical cantilevers fixed at the

77 West Wacker drive Chicago, USA, 203m, 50

c.) Example for Frame Shear Interaction System

d.) Interior System: Outrigger Structures

• The outriggers are generally in the form of trusses (1

• If the major part of the lateral load-resisting system is located at the

• In the simplest incarnation of the tube, the perimeter of the exterior

Exterior System: Framed Tube System

Exterior System: Framed Tube System

Exterior System: Framed Tube System

Exterior System: Braced Tube System

• It is possible to stiffen the building structure by introducing diagonal braces.

Exterior System: Braced Tube System

Exterior System: Braced Tube System

John Hancock Center (1970) Chicago, Onterie Center (1986) Chicago,

Exterior System: Tube in Tube System

Exterior System: Tube in Tube System

Exterior System: Tube in Tube System

181 West Madison Street, Chicago,

Exterior System: Bundled Tube System

Exterior System: Bundled Tube System

Exterior System: Bundled Tube System

Exterior System: Diagrid

Exterior System: Diagrid

Hearst Building (2006) New York, Swiss Re Building (2004) London,

Exterior System: Space Truss

Bank of China, Hong Kong

Exterior System: Exo skeleton

• In exoskeleton structures, lateral load-resisting systems are placed

Exterior System: Exo skeleton

Hotel de las Artes Barcelona, Spain Burj Al Arab

Exterior System: Super Frames

• A super-frame is composed of mega columns comprising braced

Exterior System: Super Frames

Parque Central Tower (1979) Caracas,

Some of the types of formwork materials

Types of formwork systems used for high rise buildings,

1. Slip form work

2. Jump form work/ climbing formwork

4. System column formwork