• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

The reinforced-concrete multi-story shear-wall structure, which can free a building from beams and columns to allow the planning of a vast room, has increasingly been used in Japan as a high-rise reinforced-concrete structure. Since this structural system concentrates the seismic force onto multi-story shear walls inside, the bending deformation of the walls may cause excessive deformation on the upper floors during an earthquake. However, it is possible to control the bending deformation to within a certain level by setting high-strength and rigid beams (outriggers) at the top of the multi-story shear walls; these outriggers restrain the bending behavior of the walls. Moreover, it is possible to achieve high energy dissipation by placing vibration control devices on the outriggers and thus restrain the bending behavior. This paper outlines the earthquake response analysis of a high-rise residential tower to demonstrate the effectiveness of the outrigger frame incorporating vibration control devices.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2017

High-rise buildings move during construction due to time-dependent material properties of concrete (creep and shrinkage), construction sequences, and structural shapes. The building movements, including vertical and horizontal displacements, result from the sum of axial and lateral deformation of vertical members at each level. In addition to the vertical shortenings, the lateral movement induced by differential shortening can have adverse effects on the construction tolerance and serviceability of non-structural elements such as elevators and curtain walls. In this study a construction stage analysis method is developed to predict lateral movement induced by shortening, including the effect of creep and shrinkage. The algorithm of construction stage analysis is combined with the FE analysis program. It is then applied to predict lateral movement of a 58-story reinforced concrete building that was constructed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Gravity induced lateral movement of this building is predicted by the construction stage analysis. A field three-dimensional laser scanning survey is carried out to verify the prediction results, and satisfactory agreement is obtained.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.213-228
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• 2013

Tall buildings have been traditionally designed to be symmetric rectangular, triangular or circular in plan, in order to avoid excessive seismic-induced torsional vibrations due to eccentricity, especially in seismic-prone regions like Japan. However, recent tall building design has been released from the spell of compulsory symmetric shape design, and free-style design is increasing. This is mainly due to architects' and structural designers' challenging demands for novel and unconventional expressions. Another important aspect is that rather complicated sectional shapes are basically good with regard to aerodynamic properties for crosswind excitations, which are a key issue in tall-building wind-resistant design. A series of wind tunnel experiments and numerical simulation have been carried out to determine aerodynamic forces and wind pressures acting on tall building models with various configurations: corner cut, setbacks, helical and so on. Dynamic wind-induced response analyses of these models have also been conducted. The results of these experiments have led to comprehensive understanding of the aerodynamic characteristics of tall buildings with various configurations.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.285-296
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• 2014

The objective of optimization is to present a design process that minimizes the total material consumption while satisfying current codes and specifications. In the research an optimization formulation for RC shear wall structures is proposed. And based on conceptual design methodology, an optimization process is investigated. Then optimal design techniques and specific explanations are introduced for residential buildings with shear wall structure, especially for that with a rectangular layout. An example of 30-story building is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimal design process. Furthermore, the influence of aspect ratio on the concrete consumption and the steel consumption of the superstructure are analyzed for this typical RC shear wall structure; and their relations are obtained by regressive analysis. Finally, the optimal material consumption is suggested for the residential building with RC shear wall structure and with rectangular layout. The relation and the data suggested can be used for guiding the design of similar RC shear wall structures.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.297-300
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• 2017

Employers are realizing that workplaces have an immense impact on productivity. And, because people typically represent about 90% of a company's costs, even a slight improvement in productivity hits the bottom-line in a very big way. The focus is shifting away from saving money by reducing space needs or cutting energy requirements, and moving toward making the workplace friendlier and healthier. What is a healthy workplace, exactly? The answer should be clear by now. Mountains of research have expounded on this very topic, and then news outlets cover the latest discoveres ad infinitum. The problem is, research is rather dense, while the news isn't comprehensive. Office managers trying to improve workplace wellness want neither a 55-page report nor a half dozen articles to convince their landlord that their space can do better. Recognizing this gap, Harvard researchers have released a concise-yet-complete list of healthy building features. Here, we're sharing these nine features with a few insights of our own on the value of being healthy and productive. Find out: ${\bullet}$ What makes a healthy building and why is it so important ${\bullet}$ How to improve the health of your own office ${\bullet}$ What happens for your people and your bottom line when you make health a priority.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.251-263
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• 2021

Fire safety engineering is a critical specialization to include in the design of a tall building yet is often excluded from the Building Information Model (BIM) and integrated design process. The design of fire safety systems is interdependent with building/structural geometry, HVAC, mechanical, and electrical systems. A BIM is a 3D visual representation that stores data on these kinds of systems. The compatibility between BIM and fire safety design seems obvious yet has received a dearth of attention in structural (fire) engineering literature. The authors herein have reviewed over 40 recent papers on utilizing BIM for fire safety engineering, focusing on contemporary literature to obtain a more up-to-date review of the state-of-the-art. The resulting trends, technologies, research gaps, and methodologies are presented in this paper. Adoption of BIM in fire safety engineering is slow and behind other disciplines which may be improved if research involved more industry partners. For BIM technology to reach its potential, industry manufacturers need to provide high LOD fire BIM objects, fire engineers and researchers need to collaborate on future advancements, and building owners/management need to be educated on how to use the benefits provided.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.287-298
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• 2018

High strength steels have been widely applied in recent years due to high strength and good working performance. When subjected to fire conditions, the strength and elastic modulus of high strength steels deteriorate significantly and hence the load bearing capacity of structures reduces at elevated temperatures. The reduction factors of mechanical properties of high strength steels are quite different from mild steels. Therefore, the fire design methods deduced from mild steel structures are not applicable to high strength steel structures. In recent ten years, the first author of this paper has carried out a lot of fundamental research on fire behavior of high strength steels and structures. Summary of these research is presented in this paper, including mechanical properties of high strength steels at elevated temperature and after fire exposure, creep response of high strength steels at elevated temperature, residual stresses of welded high strength steel member after fire exposure, fire resistance of high strength steel columns, fire resistance of high strength steel beams, local buckling of high strength steel members, and residual strength of high strength steel columns after fire exposure. The results show that the mechanical properties of high strength steel in fire condition and the corresponding fire resistance of high strength steel structures are different from those of mild steel and structures, and the fire design methods recommended in current design codes are not applicable to high strength steel structures.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.327-342
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• 2018

Geopolymer concrete (GPC), which is recognised as an environmentally friendly alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete, has been reported to possess high fire resistance. However, very limited research has been conducted to investigate the behaviour of geopolymer concrete-filled steel tubular (GCFST) columns at either ambient or elevated temperatures. This paper presents the compressive test results of a total of 15 circular concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) stub columns, including 5 specimens tested at room temperature, 5 specimens tested at elevated temperatures and the remaining 5 specimens tested for residual strength after exposure to elevated temperatures. The main variables in the test program include: (a) concrete type; (b) concrete strength; and (c) curing condition of geopolymer concrete. The test results demonstrate that GCFST columns have similar ambient temperature behaviour compared with the conventional CFST counterparts. However, GCFST columns exhibit better fire resistance than the conventional CFST columns. Meanwhile, it is found that the GCFST column made with heat cured GPC has lower strength loss than other columns after exposure to elevated temperatures. The research results highlight the possibility of using geopolymer concrete to improve the fire resistance of CFST columns.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.265-285
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• 2018

This paper presents a state-of-the-art review on the design, research and education aspects of fire safety engineering (FSE) with a particular concern on high-rise buildings. FSE finds its root after Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, followed by Great London Fire in 1666. The development of modern FSE is continuously driven by industry revolution, insurance community and government regulations. Now FSE has become a unique engineering discipline and is moving towards performance-based design since 1990s. The performance-based fire safety design (PBFSD) involves identification of fire safety goals, design objectives, establishment of performance criteria, and selection of proper solutions for fire safety. The determination of fire scenarios and design fires have now become major contents for PBFSD. To experience a rapid and positive evolution in design and research consistent with other engineering disciplines, it is important for fire safety engineering as a profession to set up a special educational system to deliver the next-generation fire safety engineers. High-rise buildings have their unique fire safety issues such as rapid fire and smoke spread, extended evacuation time, longer fire duration, mixed occupancies, etc., bringing more difficulties in ensuring life safety and protection of property and environment. A list of recommendations is proposed to improve the fire safety of high-rise buildings. In addition, some source information for specific knowledge and information on FSE is provided in Appendix.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2019

Whilst most research focuses on the reduction of operative energy use in buildings, the aspect of which (and how many) materials are used is often neglected and poorly explored. However, considering the continuous growth of the global population and the limited availability of resources, it is clear that focusing on operative energy alone is too short-sighted. The tasks lying ahead for architects and engineers cannot be accomplished with conventional methods of construction. With a share of 50-60% of global resource consumption, the building industry has a decisive impact on our environment. If business as usual continues, resources will be significantly depleted in a matter of decades. Therefore, researchers of the University of Stuttgart are investigating the concept of adaptivity as a promising method for saving resources in the built environment. The term adaptivity in the context of building structures was first introduced by Werner Sobek. It describes a method where sensors, actuators and control units are implemented in systems or facades in order to oppose physical impacts in an ideal way. The applicability of this method will be verified on an experimental high-rise building at the University campus in Stuttgart. Thus, this paper describes this innovative research project and depicts the concept of adaptivity in high-rise structures. Furthermore, it gives an overview of potential actuation concepts and the interdisciplinary challenges behind them.