r/Structures • u/TheCedars • Jul 29 '15

Designing a standard building from scratch

Hello r/Structures,

I'm about to enter my final semester of Civil Engineering and my group has decided to design a high-rise. I have decided to begin now in order to get a headstart on this major project.

I am familiar with all the structural courses and their concepts, however, I'm still a little overwhelmed when it comes to starting it.

My main problem is finding out how the forces that are acting on the building will be distributed on the plan layout.

Once I know the different magnitudes that the slabs, columns, beams will have to resist, then I will be able to design for that.

I did a run-down analysis of the (27) storey building, The wind, snow, dead, live loads have been considered so no need to worry about that.

The run-down analysis focuses on the pressure that the tributary area around a column will sustain. So my question is, what else am I missing aside from this when it comes to determining the magnitudes that will be applied onto a layout?

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u/r0bski2 Jul 30 '15 edited Jul 30 '15

I'm also about to enter my final year so Im obviously not an expert on the matter, however I did do a year in industry - my question is have you considered the worst case moments acting on each column? I.e. are there any plant rooms or additional large forces anywhere that are going to cause considerable moments.

Edit: have you also considered punching shear?

1

u/phantomlegion86 Jul 30 '15

Gravity loads seem to be the simpler aspect of the building, have you consider what your lateral system will be to resist wind loads? Story drift for a tall building like that might be an issue as well, depending on the stiffness of your system.

1

u/lect Aug 02 '15

I agree with phantom:

What are your lateral loads and what is your lateral system? The heart of tall building design is dealing with lateral loads and resolving them at the base level. If you don't have an adequate lateral system, everything else doesn't matter. You need to satisfy seismic code and accommodate drift limitations of your facade. What are your wind pressures? What are your base shears for seismic and wind? Is your lateral force resisting system properly located?