• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2012

When Cole Porter wrote the song "Anything Goes" in 1934, he did not include skyscraper examples. The recently completed Chrysler and Empire State buildings followed decades of tall building development in a logical and predictable line. Today, dramatic improvements in materials and methods of analysis, design and fabrication have given architects and engineers freedom to imagine, and contractors to build, towers in configurations never seen before. If writing now, Porter would surely have mentioned such designs to demonstrate anything goes. Or does it? This article explores the possibilities and challenges of tall building structural design through current and proposed projects. Examples include engineering buildings with outward forms that appear structurally unfavorable and taking advantage of load reduction through shaping opportunities.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.233-242
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• 2018

Since the response reduction effect on over 200-meter-tall resulting from the seismic isolation system is smaller in general than low-rise and mid-rise buildings, mid-story isolated buildings are considered to reduce the response in the upper part above the isolation story, however, in many cases, the acceleration response just below the isolation story is likely to be the largest. This paper presents the structural design schemes, the design of the main structural frames, and the constructions of a 230-meter-tall super high-rise building with mid-story isolation mechanism integrated in Roppongi, Tokyo. Moreover, this paper shows how the architectural and structural design for integrating a mid-story isolation system in a super high-rise building has been conducted and what solutions have been derived in this project. The realization of this building indicates new possibilities for mid-story isolation design for super high-rise buildings.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.341-344
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• 2013

During a building fire, smoke can flow through elevator shafts threatening life on floors remote from the fire. Many buildings have pressurized elevators intended to prevent such smoke flow. The computer program, CONTAM, can be used to analyze the performance of pressurization smoke control systems. The design of pressurized elevators can be challenging for the following reasons: (1) often the building envelope is not capable of effectively handling the large airflow resulting from elevator pressurization, (2) open elevator doors on the ground floor tend to increase the flow from the elevator shaft at the ground floor, and (3) open exterior doors on the ground floor can cause excessive pressure differences across the elevator shaft at the ground floor. To meet these challenges, the following systems have been developed: (1) exterior vent (EV) system, (2) floor exhaust (FE) system, and ground floor lobby (GFL) system.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.291-302
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• 2019

We performed calculations combining optimization technologies and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aimed at reducing wind forces and mitigating wind environments (local strong winds) around buildings. However, the Reynolds Averaged Navier-stokes Simulation (RANS), which seems somewhat inaccurate, needs to be used to create a realistic CFD optimization tool. Therefore, in this study we explored the possibilities of optimizing calculations using RANS. We were able to demonstrate that building configurations advantageous to wind forces could be predicted even with RANS. We also demonstrated that building layouts was more effective than building configurations in mitigating local strong winds around tall buildings. Additionally, we used the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) as an airflow prediction method alternative to CFD in order to increase the speed of optimization calculations, and validated its prediction accuracy.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.603-616
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• 2013

This study is aimed at formulating an empirical equation for the across-wind fluctuating moment and spectral density coefficient, which are needed to estimate the across-wind dynamic responses of tall buildings, as a function of the side ratios of buildings. In order to estimate an empirical formula, wind tunnel tests were conducted on aero-elastic models of the rectangular prisms with various aspect and side ratios in turbulent boundary layer flows. In this paper, criteria for the across-wind fluctuating moment and spectral density are briefly discussed and the results are analyzed mainly as a function of the side ratios of the buildings. Finally, empirical formulas for the across-wind fluctuating moment coefficient and spectral density coefficient according to variation of the aspect ratio are proposed.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

The paper reports the result of a 2-year long research conducted by CTBUH on the design possibilities enabled by the Ropeless and Multidirectional elevator systems, investigating how such a significant innovation (or better to say revolution) in the vertical transportation could affect tall buildings first and cities then. The purpose of the study is to prefigure the adoption of ropeless and multidirectional cabins for tall buildings mobility, with the aim to overcome the evolutionary bottleneck of the high-rise building type due to the exclusively vertical direction of transport, which limited, over the years, the design possibilities in terms of height, shape and relations with the surrounding environment. CTBUH research team, together with professionals in the field and supporting academic advisors, developed a series of design considerations on plan organizations, dispatching alternatives and on the integration of horizontal direction in the circulation, with the aim of anticipating potential and criticality arising from the application of ropeless and multidirectional systems.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2023

The use of Engineered Wood Systems (EWS), especially mass-timber, as a structural alternative or complement to steel and concrete is gaining interest and acceptance across different sectors of architecture, engineering, and construction, including in high-rise buildings. Focussing on the Australian context, this study examines the levels of adoption and barriers to using timber as a primary structural material in multi-storey buildings. Data collected from semi-structured interviews with stakeholders at the forefront of adoption in structural design, construction, and property development indicates that timber in multi-storey projects in Australia still faces industry-wide challenges. Designers' awareness and attitudes towards timber adoption are generally positive and suitable for flagship projects, including tall buildings, but for enduring and widespread impact, long-term investment in education within and outside the range of stakeholders already committed to promoting timber adoption is needed.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2019

This presentation traces the evolution of the SkyPark across multiple building types in different cities, climates and contexts from urban, architectural and social perspectives.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.967-988
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• 2016

Due to the significant aerodynamic interference from sub-towers and surrounding tall buildings, the wind loads and dynamic responses on main tower of three-tower connected tall building typically change especially compared with those on the isolated single tall building. This paper addresses the wind load effects and equivalent static wind loads (ESWLs) of three-tower connected tall building based on measured synchronous surface pressures in a wind tunnel. The variations of the global shape coefficients and extremum wind loads of main tower structure with or without interference effect under different wind directions are studied, pointing out the deficiency of the traditional wind loads based on the load codes for the three-tower connected tall building. The ESWLs calculation method based on elastic restoring forces is proposed, which completely contains the quasi-static item, inertia item and the coupled effect between them. Then the wind-induced displacement and acceleration responses for main tower of three-tower connected tall building in the horizontal and torsional directions are investigated, subsequently the structural basal and floor ESWLs under different return periods, wind directions and damping ratios are studied. Finally, the action mechanism of interference effect on structural wind effects is investigated. Main conclusions can provide a sientific basis for the wind-resistant design of such three-tower connected tall building.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.711-724
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• 2012

The goal of this study is to conceptually orientate optimized layouts of outrigger belt trusses which are in widespread use today in the design of tall buildings by strut-and-tie truss models utilizing a topology optimization method. In this study unknown strut-and-tie models are realized by using a typical SIMP method of topology optimization methods. In tradition strut-and-tie model designs find the appropriate strut-and-tie trusses along force paths with respect to elastic stress distribution, and then engineers or designers determine the most proper truss models by experience and intuition. It is linked to a trial-and-error procedure based on heuristic strategies. The presented strut-and tie model design by using SIMP provides that belt truss models are automatically and robustly produced by optimal layout information of struts-and-ties conforming to force paths without any trial-and-error. Numerical applications are studied to verify that outrigger belt trusses for tall buildings are optimally chosen by the proposed method for both static and dynamic responses.