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Preface
Shear Frame Shear truss-frame
Moment resistant beam to column connections create Vertical shear trusses located around the inner core in
shear frames or Vierendeel frames which provide lat- one or both directions can be combined with perimeter
eral stiffness in both orthogonal directions. The effi- shear frames in the facade of a building. These
ciency towards lateral stiffness is controlled by the frame-shear truss interacting systems are considered to
individual stiffness of the members depending on the be the most economical steel systems for buildings up
section and the length of girders and columns. The to 40 storeys. In some cases, the inner core can be
resistance to sway deflection in mainly governed by executed using concrete shear walls, thus substituting
the bending of beams and columns due to wind the steel trusses in K, X or single brace form which
forces and less from column shortening or cantilever may interfere with openings that provide access to, for
action. The figure below shows the theoretical sway example, elevators. The K-form is preferred for
deflection of this framing system under the action of trusses since in the case of X and single brace form
wind forces. Common bay dimensions range bracings the influence of gravity loads is very
between 6 m to 9 m. important. In seismic areas, eccentrical bracing is
used in order to enhance the damping behavior of the
The shear frames can be located only in the exterior overall structure. The interaction of shear frames and
facade or, for more efficiency, in all vertical sections vertical trusses produces a combination of two
according to the column grid. This frame system has deflection curves with the effect of more efficient
the advantage of large rectangular openings in the stiffness.
Systems Evolution
improves the cantilever participation of the exterior
frame and creates a three-dimensional frame be
behavior. The overall stiffness can be increased up to
25%.
Deflection curve
1 Drift with belt truss
2 Drift without belt truss
Structural scheme
26th floor
3rd floor
street level
Structural Engineer:
The Office of
Irwin G. Cantor P.C.
New York, NY
Developer:
Gerald D. Hines Interests,
Houston, Texas and
Sterling Equities, Inc.,
New York, NY
34th floor
27th floor
19th floor
1 W 920 x 201 -
W 920 x 446
2 W 840 x 193
3 W 360 x 382
4 1/2 W 360 x 147 -
1/2 W 360 x 287
5 W 610 x 92 -
W 610 x 113
6 W 690 x 125
7 W 760 x 147 -
W 760 x 257
8 1/2 W 360 x 448 -
1/2 W 360 x 134
9 1/2 W 360 x 179
ground floor
Column transfer
at setbacks 19th and 27th floor
scale 1:20
1 column above
2 column below
3 transfer girder
Architects A new landmark for NYC-skyline
and Structural Engineers: The 53-storey commercial tower is separated from the 41-storey
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, residential tower by a multi-level plaza. The commercial
New York, NY building has four elliptical entrance lobbies, each set off by
10,60 m high granite-clad columns. The spandrels in the glazed
Developer: brick exterior are set back to define the verticality of the shaft.
New York Communications
Center Associates, Exterior tube with tree-columns
New York, NY The two-storey high columns were fabricated with four and
sometimes two half-span spandrel beams welded to them to
form “trees”. These tree sections were shop-fabricated with
1,50 m studs extending out either on both sides or on one side,
depending on were to be placed. One advantage of the tower’s
framing being a perimeter tube framing system was that its
stiffness facilitated some of the column transfers taking place
45th floor
39th floor
18th floor
16th floor
13th floor
6th floor
ground
floor
Structural Engineer:
Albert C. Martin & Associates,
Los Angeles
Developer:
JBM/Urban Development, Co.
Los Angeles
39th floor
20th floor
10th floor
-3
street level
Structural frame
elevation of
perimeter tube and
framing plan
7th to 13th floor
1 W 920
2 WTM 920
3 box column
4 WTM 690
5 W 360
(WTM = tailor-made beams)
Architects: Two-buildings-in-one
Lee Harris Pomeroy Associates/ The Swiss Bank Tower was placed to the rear of the historic
Abramovitz Kingsland Schiff, department store and designed to respect the classical architecture of
Manhattan, NY the Sak’s building while allowing the tower to rise above the new
9-storey store extension to Sak’s Fifth Avenue on axis with
Structural Engineer: Rockefeller Center. Extraordinary construction efforts were
The Office of Irwin G. Cantor P.C., necessary to satisfy two owners with radically different require-
Manhattan, NY ments. The different column locations in the two-buildings-in-one
required an innovative column-transfer system. While Saks wanted
Developer: exceptionally long 18,60 m spans on its retain floors, in the Swiss
The Swiss Bank Corporation Bank above, in contrast, in the same east-west orientation of the
and Saks & Company, Sak’s spans, the spans are only 14,00 m.
Manhattan, NY
West elevation
Structural Engineer:
Thornton-Tomasetti, P.C.
New York, NY
Developer:
Olympia & York
Equity Corporation,
Toronto, Canada
Layout World Trade Center
at Battery Park
Architectural versatility A, B, C, D office towers
E winter garden
The World Financial Center at Battery Park
City is a group of architecturally coordinat-
ed skyscrapers, landscaped plazas and win-
ter garden. The four reflective glass and
granite office towers rise from a continuous
granite-sheathed base and make a transition
towards entirely reflective glass.
The tops of the towers are designed as
sculptured forms-spheres, pyramids and
prisms. What has become to be called the
Building B is unique in that it is the only
one to feature a 45,72 m diameter copper
dome supported by a series of steel trusses.
Building B has a ten-storey podium stretch-
ing from the tower to the nine-storey octag-
onal structure of the gatehouse located to
the south and forming the main entry at
Liberty Street.
40th floor
Framing plan
20th floor
35th floor
26th floor
17th floor
8th floor
ground floor
Structural Engineer:
Weiskopf & Pickworth,
Consulting Engineers, Manhattan, NY
Developer:
Solomon Equities, Inc.
New York, NY
Executive Architect:
Welton Becket Associates, Los Angeles
Structural Engineer:
CBM Engineers, Inc., Houston
Developer:
Maguire Thomas Partners
and Pacific Enterprises, Los Angeles
The tallest tower in LA
Roughly circular in plan at the base, the
building changes shape five times as it steps
back at the 47th, 56th, 60th, 69th and 73rd
floor. A three level difference in elevations
between streets on north and south sides is
made up with beautifully landscaped
Spanish style steps, which are seismically
isolated from the main tower structure and
fountains. Called a signature building for
the city of Los Angeles, the granite clad
building with its faceted exterior will con-
tain about 1.4 million square feet of office
space.
Conflicting structural demands
To arrive at the most economical design for
the steel structure, due consideration had to
be given to both seismic and wind-loading
factors. The conflicting demands of optimal
seismic vs. optimal high-rise design resulted
in a structure that is really two structures
interacting with each other, with enough
ductility to accommodate the randomly
variable jerks of an earthquake yet, stiff
enough to ensure occupant comfort during
high winds. The dual system that was
selected consists of steel columns ringing
the building’s perimeter creating a ductile,
moment-resisting tube. It is the 6,80 m2
core, formed by four massive 1,20 x 1,20 m
steel core columns connected by chevron
bracing that provides stiffness up to the 54th
floor. At the 54th floor, the chevron bracing
drops out of the core. At this point, there
are no columns between the core and the
perimeter tube and the perimeter columns
act as the main lateral bracing mechanism.
The core structure is supported on a con-
crete mat foundation. The perimeter frame
columns are supported on circumferential
strip footings that tie into the core mat.
Curtain walls were designed to sustain prac-
tically no damage during earthquakes. The
trusses that support the cladding were
designed to move with the maximum inter-
storey drift.
The perimeter structure is a ductile, moment resisting frame. The interior core is 22,55 x
22,55 m wide and 68 storeys high. Box columns art each corner of this core have design
gravity loads of 10.000 t. Lateral support is provided by a series of 2-storey chevron
braces, spanning each of the four sides of the core. The chevron braces are being used in
60th floor a high seismic region for the first time. At the 54th floor, the chevron braces are replaced
by free-spanning Vierendeel girders. Between the core frame and the perimeter frame,
concrete floor slabs on steel beams span up to 16,76 m.