Seismic Performance of Super Tall Buildings

1. Introduction

During the last few decades, the application of new techniques and of new mechanical means was witnessed in virtually every human activity. It became clear in time that the innovation in architecture would come from those who grasps the possibilities of the new materials and techniques. The present day, construction of super tall buildings have become a trend and the impetus behind the surge of these tall buildings has been the need to satisfy the growing demand for office and apartment space. The convenience of having all of the services one needs in a single building is now becoming a reality with mixed-use buildings; some of these buildings may also bring the prospect of being able to live and work without leaving the building. Further the value of time and the high cost of gasoline may be part of the economic drivers that have sparked renewed interest in urban living and a return to the central city or downtown areas of many cities, which is a reverse trend from living in the suburbs as in the past. Due to this new technology towards super tall buildings, engineering judgment has to be made carefully.





As buildings are built to greater heights, the aspect ratio becomes larger, leading to excessive deflection problems due to the lateral load acting on the building. To meet the challenge for limiting deflections due to wind or seismic loads, innovative structural schemes are being continuously developed. Various wind bracing concepts have been developed and outrigger braced structural system is one of the most popular systems among them. There are well recognized analytical methods available for the analysis of buildings under wind or seismic loads. But due to these extreme heights in the super tall buildings, some general methods of analysis had to be reviewed and modified accordingly. In this paper, the behavior of super tall buildings under seismic loads will be addressed.


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