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Material Properties
Concrete Strength
For the avoidance of doubt, we shall use the Eurocode 2 to describe concrete strength. For
example, C70/85 refers to a concrete mix with a cylinder strength of 70MPa and cube strength
of 85MPa.
Concrete strength in columns and walls varies from a strength of C70/85 in the lower
elements to C40/50 in the upper elements as summarised below:
L34 - L43 C40/50
L22 - L33 C50/60
L08 - L21 C60/75
B04 - L07 C70/85
Whilst it is common practice to reduce the concrete strength in vertical elements with height,
the current cost of rebar in UAE when compared with the cost of concrete suggests that it
would be more economical to maintain the concrete strength further up the building and
reduce the amount of rebar.
Concrete strength in the beams and slabs is C35/45. These strengths are appropriate for a
building of this nature.
Although not stated in ACI 318, it should be noted that C70/85 concrete is high-strength
concrete (HSC). Mendis (2003) and McFarlane (2007) state that the use of normal-strength
concrete (NSC) design equations can result in unsafe designs. Furthermore, HSC requires
more onerous detailing than NSC.
It is strongly recommended that the NSC design and detailing requirements in ACI 318 be
supplemented by world best practice. ACI 363, ACI 441 Mendis (2003) and McFarlane (2007)
provide an extensive literature survey and guidance on HSC. The Australian Concrete Code,
AS 3600, specifies excellent design and detailing principles for HSC.
The detailing of HSC is also discussed in the discussion section of this report. The transmission
of loads from HSC columns through NSC floors should be checked. This is also discussed later.
Young’s Modulus
The Young’s Modulus of concrete is derived from ACI 318 as 40.1 GPa at 28 days and 43.3 GPa
at 1 year for C70/85 concrete. However, NSC codes such as ACI 318, tend to under estimate
the modulus of HSC concrete in general and HSC concrete used in the Middle East in
particular.
Table 8.1 shows the modulus of concrete for a C65/80 mix that was used in the Burj Khalifa
Dubai. It is evident from Table 7.1 that the modulus of concrete for the C65/80 mix is 46.9
GPa at 28 days and 49.2 GPa at 90 days. Therefore, the C70/85 mix proposed for the City
Tower One project should achieve slightly higher modulus values. Mean E-values should be
used for design.
It is recommended that tests in accordance ASTM C469 be carried out to determine the actual
modulus of the concrete for the mixes to be used on the project. This would enable a more
accurate prediction of the structural behaviour of the building and may allow some
economies in member sizes to be achieved.
As can be seen the central structure would be assisted by the two outrigger arms, which in turn
are stabilised by the central structure.
The outriggers allow the width of the building to be used, while not impacting the floor space and
use.
In addition the outrigger provide robustness and general stiffness in the case of a catastrophic
event and the outrigger columns fail, the central structure would be sized to have sufficient
structure stiffness to support the building so progressive collapse would not occur.
To understand the movements of the shear wall and outrigger system it is easiest done by
considering each system on their own.
A typical shear wall building is depicted below, the shear wall structure would deflect as a
typical cantilever shape.
Figure 3: Deflected Shape of Core-Without Outrigger Stiffening
As can be seen in figure 4, if we consider the core linked by the outrigger arms and columns
when horizontal load acts on the building, the outriggers restrained by the columns resist the
rotation of the core, causing the lateral deflections and moments in the core to be smaller
than if the free-standing core alone resisted the loading.
In order to provide sufficient ductility closely spaced links must be used in HSC columns.
Walls should be detailed similarly. The links should be anchored into the column core in a
similar manner to seismic detailing. Figure 12.2 shows typical details for rectangular and
circular columns.
a. Circular Column with Seismic Bends at b. Rectangular Column with 135° Seismic Hooks
Ends of Helix