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CE 636 - Design of Multi-Story Structures T. B.

Quimby UAA School of Engineering

Many different types of Tube structures: framed-tube, tube-in-tube, bundled tube, braced-tube, and composite tube All forms evolved from the traditional rigid jointed structural frame. The basic design philosophy is to consider the entire floor plan as one section and place as much as possible the load carrying material around the external periphery of the building to maximize the flexural rigidity of the cross section.

Consists of four orthogonally rigidly jointed frame panels place around the perimeter of the structure forming a tube in plan. The columns are closely spaced and connected by deep, stiff beams. The columns are aligned such that the strong bending plane is in the plane of the panel. Placing the frames on the exterior of the building maximizes the inertia of the tube section. The stiff beams mobilize the flanges of the tube. The stiffer the beams, the less shear lag, and more participation by the columns in the frames normal to the direction of force.

The uniformity of the members makes it possible to use mass production techniques in the construction. Interior layout is very flexible, making this system good for office buildings. There are no interior shear walls or braced frames in the way. The closely spaced columns create problems where large openings are required. Can resort to transfer trusses/girders or inclined columns to solve the problems. The closely spaced columns and uniformity are not always considered to be aesthetically pleasing. Repetitive floor systems are possible.

Complex behavior: Acts like a perforated tube, which is somewhat more flexible than a solid tube. Frames parallel to the neutral axis take much of the moment in tension/compression. (Column stress ~ Mc/I) Shear lag resulting from deformation in the spandrel beams tends to keep all columns from participating equally. Frames perpendicular to the neutral axis take the shear.

The function of the floor system is to transmit the horizontal forces to the different vertical structural elements.
Floor diaphragms are rigid in plane. This prevents

distortion of the tube section. Floor diaphragms are flexible out of plane. Out of plane actions are generally negligible.

Most tubes are doubly symmetric, a feature that can make analysis much simpler.

Additional web frames are added to reduce shear lag in the flange frames. Resulting effects:
stresses in flange columns is more uniform
reduced shear forces in web frames (interior

frames constrained to act with exterior frames by rigid floor diaphragms.)

Diagonal bracing is added to the frames. The addition of bracing stiffens the web frames and reduces shear lag in the flange frames. Behavior is much closer to that of a true cantilevered tube. May reduce the number of columns in the frames. Large scale bracing tends to be more practical than single bay/story bracing due to reduced number of connections. All columns connected to the bracing.

Bracing constrains all the columns to deflect together axially, creating a redistribution (or equalization) of gravity loads among the columns. Many of the columns may actually be in tension when subjected to gravity loads. Spandrels must be able to take the tension created by the compressive forces in the diagonals under gravity loading and the compression created the tensile forces in the diagonals under lateral loading.

Generally core structures make use of an elevator or utility core in the building by enclosing the core with shearwalls or braced frames. The core behaves as a single large structural component (a vertical cantilever thin walled beam) with large moments of inertia. Due to the thin wall nature, the section is prone to warping resulting from torsion and/or thin plate buckling/distortions resulting from bending compressive stress.

Most cores are open thin walled elements. Under the influence of torsional forces the internal forces are a result of both pure shear and warping shear. Warping may result in large normal stresses. This is the same as seen in thin walled structural steel sections subjected to torsion.

Warping of the core has a significant effect on the response of the core. See Mechanics of Material texts and Steel texts for detailed discussion of torsion in thin walled elements. These principles can be applied to core structures.

Hand methods require the solution of the differential equations associated with the warping behavior. Computer finite element membrane analysis eliminates the need for in-depth understanding of warping behavior and the computation of warping section properties. Auxiliary beams may be required to make rigid connections to the membrane elements. An analogous frame can be created if membrane elements are not available. The problem can be simplified according to the two column analogy or a single warping column model.

Consist of a core which is stiffened by attachment to axial force columns by flexurally stiff outriggers. Stiff spandrel girders located at the end of the outriggers are used to mobilize all the columns on a building face. The core takes all the shear. Most of the moments is taken by the columns at the ends of the outriggers. Outriggers must be very stiff. The structure may be unsymmetrical.

Approximate Analysis
Four simplifying assumptions (see pg. 356 of text) May be used in optimizing the location of the

outriggers. The approach uses compatibility of rotations.

Final Analysis
Stiffness computer methods.

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