I

A RESOURCE BOOK FOR

STRUCTURAL STEEL
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION
(SSSS & BCA JOINT-PUBLICATION)

Building and Construction .Authority

Singapore Structural Steel Society

SECTION 1

DESIGN CONCEPTS AND

STRUCTURAL SCHEMES FOR
MULTI-STOREY STEEL BUILDINGS
2

1.1 MODERN TECHNIQUES IN STEEL Metal decking may be lifted in bundles and no further
FRAME CONSTRUCTION craning is required as it is laid by hand and fixed by welded
studs. This gives both a working and safety platform against
1.1.1 Buildability of Steelwork Construction accidents.
One of the main considerations in planning a building
project is to have the building ready and occupied as early Secondary beams should be placed close enough to suit
as possible. In order to reduce the time over which the the deck, so that temporary propping can be avoided, and
investment is tied up in construction and maximize the the deck could be concreted immediately.
return of investment through the use of the building, the
design needs to consider the buildability aspects of the 1.1.3 Steel-concrete Composite Design
construction. Considerable benefit is gained by composition of the slab
with the steel beam with possible weight savings of up to
Speed in construction is achieved through a number of 30%. An effective width of a slab is assumed to carry the
factors, some of which are listed below: compressive stresses leaving virtually the whole of the steel
Simple building design to avoid complicated site beam in tension creating a T - beam effect. Interaction
works between the slab and the beam is generated by 'through
Design for minimum delay in construction deck" stud welding on to the beam flange .
Maximize use of pre-fabricated and precast elements
to avoid delays on site 1.1.4 Deflection and Cambering
Reduce the number of operations on the critical path Where the floors are unpropped, the deflection due to wet
Complete all the designs before starting work on site construction requires consideration to avoid the problem
of ponding.
Complicated geometry and building layout design should
be avoided where possible. This is especially critical in Dead load deflections exceeding 15-20mm can be easily
crowded city sites where access and storage of materials offset by cambering which is best achieved by cold rolling
may be a problem. Repetition of work means that the work the beam. This is a specialized operation but not only is
can be done in a much faster process. The more repetition the camber permanent because of stress re-distribution due
in elements, the quicker the site team goes through the to controlled yielding. These will depend upon a number
process of familiarization. of factors and the advice of the specialist should be sought.

In steel framed building the positioning of services may Because cambering can add 10-20% to the basic steel cost,
need careful consideration at the design stage to allocate this should be compared with the cost of a deeper and stiffer
service zones. Hence, conflict of interests between various beam section provided that the increase in building height
professions can be avoided. does not compromise additional cladding costs.

Steel offers the best framing material for pre-fabrication. 1.1.5 Fire Resistance
With the use of metal decks, the concept of Fast Track In the event of fire the metal deck unit would cease to
Construction is introduced. The metal decking can be function effectively due to loss of strength. However,
placed easily and used as the slab reinforcement. Through- additional strength can be provided by the added wire mesh
deck stud welding for composite action reduces beams for up to one hour fire rating.
weights and/or depths. It also helps ensure that the floor
slab can be used as a diaphragm to transfer lateral loads to For higher period of fire resistance or for exceptionally
the bracing frames or stiff cores. Lightweight fire high imposed loads, heavier reinforcement in the form of
protection can be applied at a later stage, taking it off the bars placed within the deck troughs can be used. Up to 4
critical path. hours fire rating can be obtained using this method based
upon fire engineering calculations with the deck units
1.1.2 Prefabrication and Ease of Construction serving only as a permanent formwork.
Steel members and plates can be shop-fabricated using
computer-controlled machinery, which have less chance For beams and columns, fire resistance may be provided
of mistakes. On site the assembly is mainly carried out by by lightweight systems, which are quick to apply and
a bolting procedure. Lateral load resisting system should economic. Normally cement based sprays are applied to
be located at the lifts, stair towers etc to provide stability beams, and boards around columns. For tall buildings,
throughout, rather than a rigid unbraced frame where steel columns may be encased or circular steel columns
temporary bracing may be required during erection. infilled with high-strength concrete to enhance resistance
against compression and fire.
Structural members delivered to site should be lifted
directly and fixed into position, avoiding storage on site.
Steel stairs, erected along with the frame, give immediate
access for quicker and safer erection.
4

They are normally located in buildings to accommodate According to Eurocode 3 (EC3, 1992) a frame may be
lift shafts and staircases. classified as braced if its sway resistance is supplied by a
bracing system in which its response to lateral loads is
In steel structures, it is common to have triangulated vertical sufficiently stiff for it to be acceptably accurate to assume
truss to provide bracing (see Fig. 1.2a). Unlike concrete all horizontal loads are resisted by the bracing system. The
structures where all the joints are naturally continuous, the frame can be classified as braced if the bracing system
most direct way of making connections between steel reduces its horizontal displacement by at least 80 percent.
members is to hinge one member to the other. For a very
stiff structure, shear wall or core wall is often used (Figure 1.2.5 Sway Versus Non-Sway Frames
1.2b). The efficiency of a building to resist lateral forces A frame can be classified as non-sway if its response to in-
depends on the location and the types of the bracing systems plane horizontal forces is sufficiently stiff for it to be
employed, and the presence or otherwise of shear walls acceptable to neglect any additional internal forces or
and cores around lift shafts and stairwells. moments arising from horizontal displacements of the
frame. In the design of multi-storey building frame, it is
convenient to isolate the columns from the frame and treat
the stability of columns and the stability of frames as
independent problems. For a column in a braced frame it
is assumed the columns are restricted at their ends from
Bracing
Frome horizontal displacements and therefore are only subjected
to end moments and axial loads as transferred from the
frame. It is then assumed that the frame, possibly by means
(a) of a bracing system, satisfies global stability checks and
that the global stability of the frame does not affect the
column behaviour. This gives the commonly assumed non-
sway frame . The design of columns in non-sway frame
follows the conventional beam-column capacity check
approach, and the column effective length may be evaluated
Shear
Wall based on the column end restraint conditions.

Another reason for defining "sway" and "non-sway frames"

(b) is the need to adopt conventional analysis in which all the
internal forces are computed on the basis of the undeformed
Figure 1.2 Commom bracing systems
geometry of the structure. This assumption is valid if
(a) Vertical truss system
second-order effects are negligible. When there is an
(b) Shear Wall
interaction between overall frame stability and column
stability, it is not possible to isolate the column. The column
1.2.4 Braced Versus Unbraced Frames
and the frame have to act interactively in a "sway" mode.
Building frame systems can be separated into vertical load-
The design of sway frames has to consider the frame sub-
resistance and horizontal load-resistance systems. The main
assemblage or the structure as a whole.
function of a bracing system is to resist lateral forces. In
some cases the vertical load-resistance system also has
British Code: BS5950: Part 1(1990) provides a procedure
some capability to resist horizontal forces. It is necessary,
to distinguish between sway and non-sway frames as
therefore, to identify the sources of resistance and to
follows:
compare their behaviour with respect to the horizontal
1) Apply a set of notional horizontal loads to the frame.
actions. However, this identification is not that obvious
These notional forces are to be taken as 0.5% of the
since the bracing is integrated within the structure. Some
factored dead plus imposed loads and are applied
assumptions need to be made in order to define the two
in isolation , i.e ., without the simultaneous
structures for the purpose of comparison.
application of actual vertical or horizontal loading.
2) Perform a first-order linear elastic analysis and
Figures 1.3 and 1.4 represent the structures that are easy to
evaluate the individual relative sway deflection d
define, within one system, two sub-assemblies identifying
for each storey.
the bracing system and the system to be braced. For the
3) If the actual frame is uncladed, the frame may be
structure shown in Figure 1.3, there is a clear separation of
considered to be non- sway if the inter-storey
functions in which the gravity loads are resist by the hinged
deflection satisfies the following limit:
subassembly (Frame B) and the horizontal load loads are
h
resisted by the braced assembly (Frame A). In contrast, o ~ 4000 where h =storey height (1.1)
for the structure in Fig. 1.4, since the second sub-assembly
(Frame B) is able to resist horizontal actions as well as for every storey.
vertical actions, it is necessary to assume that practically 4) If the actual frame is claded but the anal¥sis is
all the horizontal actions are carried by the first sub- carried out on the bare frame, then i!J recognition
assembly (Frame A) in order to define this system as braced. of the fact that the cladding will substantially reduce
 5

deflections, the condition is reflected and the frame deformation and overturning deformation. Other important
may be considered to be non-sway if issues that must be considered in planning the structural
h schemes and layout are the requirements for architectural
5 ~ 2000 where h = storey height (1.2) details, building services, vertical transportation, and fire
for every storey. safety, among others. The efficiency of a structural system
5) All frames not complying with the criteria in Eqs. is measured in term of their ability to resist higher lateral
(1.1) or (1.2) are considered to be sway frames. load which increases with the height of the frame. A
building can be considered as tall when the effect of lateral
Eurocode 3 (1992) also provides some guidelines to loads is reflected in the design. Lateral deflections of tall
distinguish between sway and non-sway frames. It states building should be limited to prevent damage to both
that a frame may be classified as non-sway for a given structural and non-structural elements. The accelerations
load case if P I P ~ 10 for that load case where P is the at the top of the building during frequent windstorms should
elastic critical' buckling value for sway b~ckling a~d P is be kept within acceptable limits to minimise discomfort to
the design value ofthe total vertical load. When the system the occupants.
buckling load factor is ten times more than the design load
factor, the frame is said to be stiff enough to resist lateral Figure 1.5 shows a chart which defines, in general, the limits
load, and it is unlikely to be sensitive to side sway to which a particular framing system can be used efficiently
deflections. for multi-storey building projects. The various structural
systems in Fig. 2.5 can be broadly classified into two main
1.2.6 Classification of Multi-storey Buildings types: (1) medium-height buildings with shear-type
The selection of appropriate structural systems for tall deformation predominant and (2) high-rise cantilever
buildings must satisfy both the strength and stiffness structures such as framed tubes, diagonal tubes and braced
requirements. The structural system must be adequate to trusses. This classification of system forms is based
resist lateral and gravity loads that cause horizontal shear primarily on their relative effectiveness in resisting lateral
loads.

... .I. .: ~ ,n.

Frame A FrameB
Figure 1.3 Frames split into two subassemblies

•'- "' ..;~,. .. I. ...

Frame A Frame B
Figure 1.4 Mixed frames split into two subassemblies
 7

1.3 FLOOR SYSTEMS of the concrete floor component in compression and the
tensile strength of the steel member. The main advantages
1.3.1 Design Consideration of combining the use of steel and concrete materials for
Floor systems in tall buildings generally do not differ building construction are:
substantially from those in low-rise buildings. However, Steel and concrete may be arranged to produce ideal
the following aspects need to be considered in design: combination of strength, with concrete efficient in
1. Weight to be minimised. compression and steel in tension.
2. Self-supporting during construction. Composite flooring is lighter in weight than pure
3. Mechanical services to be integrated in the floor zone. concrete slab.
4. Adequate fire resistance. The construction time is reduced since casting of
5. Buildability. additional floors may proceed without having to wait
6. Long spanning capability. for the previously cast floors to gain strength. The
7. Adequate floor diaphragm steel decking system provides positive-moment
reinforcement for the composite floor and requires only
Modern office buildings require large floor span in order small amount of reinforcement to control cracking and
to create greater space flexibility for the accommodation for fire resistance.
of greater variety of tenant floor plans. For building design, The construction of composite floor does not require
it is necessary to reduce the weight of the floors so as to highly skilled labour. The steel decking acts as a
reduce the size of columns and foundations and thus permit permanent form work. Composite beams and slabs can
the use of larger space. Floors are required to resist vertical accommodate raceways for electrification,
loads and they are usually supported by secondary beams. communication, and air distribution system. The slab
The spacing of the supporting beams must be compatible serves as a ceiling surface to provide easy attachment
with the resistance of the floor slabs. of a suspended ceiling.
The composite floor system produces a rigid horizontal
The floor sys tem s can be made buildable usi ng diaphragm, providing stability to the overall building
prefabricated or precast elements of steel and reinforced system while distributing wind and seismic shears to
concrete in various combinations. Floor slabs can be the lateral load resisting systems.
precast concrete slab or composite slabs with metal decking. Concrete provides thermal protection to steel at
Typical precast slabs are 4 m to 7 m, thus avoiding the elevated temperature. Composite slabs of two hours
need of secondary beams. For composite slabs, metal deck fire rating can be easily achieved for most building
spans ranging from 2m to 7 m may be used depending on requirements.
the depth and shape of the deck profile. However, the
permissible spans for steel decking are influenced by the The floor slab may be constructed by the following
method of construction, in particular it depends on whether methods:
temporary propping is provided. Propping is best avoided a flat-soffit reinforced concrete slab (Fig. 1.6a),
as the speed of construction is otherwise diminished for precast concrete planks with cast in-situ concrete
the construction of tall buildings. topping (Fig. 1.6b),
precast concrete slab with in-situ grouting at the joints
Floor beans systems must have adequate stiffness to avoid (Fig. 1.6c), and
large deflections which could lead to damage of plaster a metal steel deck tops with concrete, either composite
and slab finishers. Where the deflection limit is too severe, or non-composite (Fig. 1.6d).
pre-cambering with an appropriate initial deformation equal
and opposite to that due to the permanent loads can be The composite action of the metal deck results from side
employed to offset part of the deflection. embossments incorporated into the steel sheet profile.

Sometimes openings in the webs of beams are required to 1.3.3 Composite Beams and Girders
permit passage of horizontal services, such as pipes (for
water and gas), cables (for electricity, tele- and electronic- Steel and concrete composite beams may be formed by
communication), and ducts (air-conditioning), etc. Various shear connectors connecting the concrete floor to the top
long span flooring systems in Sections 3.4 offer solutions flange of the steel member. Concrete encasement will
to integrate building service into the structural depth leading provide fire resistance to the steel member. Alternatively,
to potential saving in weight and cladding cost. direct sprayed-on cementitious and board type fireproofing
materials may be used economically to replace the concrete
insul ation on the steel members. The most common
1.3.2 Composite Floor Systems arrangement found in composite floor systems is a rolled
Composite floor systems typically involve structural steel or built-up steel beam connected to a formed steel deck
beams, joists, girders, or trusses linked via shear connectors and concrete slab (Fig. 1.6d). The metal deck typically
with a concrete floor slab to form an effective T-beam spans unsupported between steel members while also
flexural member resisting primarily gravity loads. The providing a working platform for concreting work.
versatility of the system results from the inherent strength
8

in situ concrete in situ concrete

reinforcement steel- section reinforcement

(a) (b)

in s~u concrete

reinforcement

(c) (d)

Figure 1.6 Composite beams with

(a) flat-soffit reinforced concrete slab
(b) precast concrete planks and cast-in-situ concrete topping
(c) precasted concrete slab and in-situ concrete at the joints
(d) metal steel deck supporting concrete slab
 9

Figure 1.7a shows a typical building floor plan using Besides satisfying serviceability and ultimate strength limit
composite steel beams. The stress distribution at working states, the proposed system must also accommodate the
loads in a composite section is shown schematically in Fig. incorporation of mechanical services within normal floor
1.7b. The neutral axis is normally located very near to the zones. Several practical options for long-span construction
top flange of the steel section. Therefore, the top flange is are available and they are discussed in the following
light! y stressed. For construction point of view, a relatively subsections.
wide and thick top flange must be provided for proper
installation of shear stud and metal decking. However, the 1.3.4.1 Beams With Web Openings
increased fabrication costs must be evaluated, which tend The One Raffles Link project (see Section 3) utilises the
to offset the saving from material efficiency. castell ated beam with circ ul ar web openings for
accommodating building services. Standard castellated
beams can be fabricated from hot-rolled beams by cutting
along a zigzag line through the web. The top and bottom
half-beams are then displaced to form castellations (Fig.
1.9). Castellated composite beams can be used effectively

~'~y
for lightly serviced building. Although composite action
does not increase the strength significantly, it increases the
stiffness, and hence reduces deflection and the problem

~ i~~y
associated with vibration. Castellated beams have limited
shear capacity and best used as long span secondary beams

y""!'
f'VC1i7j_ /{)Xsimply supported
i:c:J6, / compos1te beam
where loads are low or where concentrated loads can be
avoided. Its use may be limited due to the increased
fabrication cost and the fact that the standard castellated
openings are not large enough to accommodate the large
Ia) mechanical ductwork common in modern high-rise
buildings.
·... -- ~
- I Horizontal stiffeners may be required to strengthen the web
PNA opening, and they are welded above and below the opening.
t The height of the opening should not be more than 70% of
the beam depth, and the length should not be more than
twice the beam depth. The best location of the openings
WORKING ULTIMATE
LOADS LOAO is in the low shear zone of the beams. This is because the
webs do not contribute much to the moment resistance of
!b)
the beam.

Figure 1.7. (a) Composite floor plan

(b) Stress distribution in a composite
cross section

A number of composite girder forms allow passage of

mechanical ducts and related services through the depth of
the girder (Fig. 1.8). Successful composite beam design
requires the consideration of various serviceability issues Figure 1.8 Web opening with horizontal reinforcements
such as long-term (creep) deflections and floor vibrations.
Of particular concern is the occupant-induced fl oor
vibrations. The relatively high flexural stiffness of most
1Rotate top halves about these positions f
composite floor framing systems results in relatively low
vibration amplitudes and therefore is effective in reducing
perceptibility. Studies have shown that short to medium
span (6 m to 12 m) composite floor beams perform quite
well and are rarely found to transmit annoying vibrations
to the occupants. Particular care is required for long span
beam more than 12m.

1.3.4 Long-Span Flooring Systems

Section A-A
Long spans impose a burden on the beam design in terms
oflarger required flexural stiffness for serviceability design. Figure 1.9 Composite castellated beams
10

1.3.4.2 Fabricated Tapered Beams

The economic advantage of fabricated beams is that they
can be designed to provide the required moment and shear
resistance along the beam span in accordance with the
loading pattern along the beam. Several forms of tapered ~F
services
beams are possible. A simply supported beam design with
a maximum bending moment at the mid-span would require
that they all effectively taper to a minimum at both ends
Figure 1.11 Hunched composite beam
(Fig. 1.10). Whereas a rigidly connected beam would have
minimum depth towards the mid-span. To make best use to resist the moment transferred from the beam to the
of this system, services should be placed towards the column. Thus a heavier column and a more complex
smaller depth of the beam cross sections. The spaces connection would be required in comparison with structure
created by the tapered web can be used for running services designed based on the assumption that the connections are
of modestly size (Fig. 1.10). pinned. The rigid frame action derived from the haunched
connections can resist lateral loads due to wind without
the need of vertical bracing. Haunched beams offer higher
strength and stiffness during the steel erection stage thus
making this type of system particular attractive for long
span construction. However, haunched connections behave
differently under positive and negative moments, as the
~op
connection configuration is not symmetrical about the

~.I
serv1ces
bending axis.

1.3.4.4 Parallel Beam System

Figure 1.10 Tapered composite beam The system consists of two main beams with secondary
beams run over the top of the main beams (see Fig. 1.12).
The main beams are connected to either side of the column.
A hybrid girder can be formed with the top flange made of They can be made continuous over two or more spans
lower-strength steel in comparison with the steel grade for supporting on stubs attached to the columns. This will
the bottom flange. The web plate can be welded to the help in reducing the construction depth, and thus avoiding
flanges by double-sided fillet welds. Web stiffeners may the usual beam-to-column connections. The secondary
be required at the change of section when taper slope beams are designed to act compositely with the slab and
exceeds approximately six degrees. Stiffeners are also may also be made to span continuously over the main
required to enhance the shear resistance of the web beams. The need to cut the secondary beams at every
especially when the web slenderness ratio is too high. junction is thus avoided. The parallel beam system is
Tapered beam is found to be economical for spans up to ideally suited for accommodating large service ducts in
20m. orthogonal directions (Fig. 1.12). Small saving in steel
weight is expected from the continuous construction
1.3.4.3 Haunched Beams because the primary beams are non-composite. However,
Haunched beams are designed by forming a rigid moment the main beam can be made composite with the slab by
connection between the beams and columns. The haunch welding beam stubs to the top flange of the main beam and
connections offer restraints to beam and it helps to reduce connected to the concrete slab through the use of shear
mid-span moment and deflection. The beams are designed studs (see the stud-girder system in Section 3.4.6). The
in a manner similar to continuous beams. Considerable
economy can be gained in sizing the beams using
continuous design which may lead to a reduction in beam
depth up to 30% and deflection up to 50%.

The haunch may be designed to develop the required

moment which is larger than the plastic moment resistance
of the beam. In this case, critical section is shifted to the
tip of the haunch. The depth of the haunch is selected
based on the required moment at the beam-to-column
connections. Length of haunch is typically 5%-7% the
span length for non-sway frames or 7%-15 % for sway
frames. Service ducts can pass below the beams (Fig. 1.11).
Service ducts

Haunched composite beams are usually used in the case Non-composite wal beam Composite secondary beams
where the beams frame directly into the major axis of the
columns. This means that the columns must be designed Figure 1.12 Parallel composite beam system
 11

simplicity of connections and ease of fabrication make this the bottom chord is the preferred failure mechanism. Thus
long-span beam option particularly attractive. the bottom chord should be designed to yield prior to
crushing of concrete slab. The shear connectors should
1.3.4.5 Composite Trusses have sufficient capacity to transfer the horizontal shear
Composite truss systems have been used in the OUB Centre between the top chord and the slab. During construction,
and Suntec City projects (see Sections 3 and 4). The adequate plan bracing should be provided to prevent top
openings created in the truss braces can be used to chord buckling. When consider composite action, the top
accommodate large services. Although the cost of steel chord is assumed not to participate in the moment
fabrication is higher in relation to the material cost, truss resistance of the truss, since it is located very near to the
construction can be cost-effective for very long span when neutral axis of the composite truss and, thus, contributed
compared to other structural schemes. One disadvantage very little to the flexural capacity.
of the truss configuration is that fire protection is labour
intensive and sprayed-protection systems cause a 1.3.4.6 Stub Girder System
substantial mess to the services that pass through the web The stub girder system involves the use of short beam stubs
opening (see Fig. 1.13). which are welded to the top flange of a continuous, heavier
bottom girder member, and connected to the concrete slab
through the use of shear studs. Continuous transverse
secondary beams and ducts can pass through the openings
formed by the beam stub. The natural openings in the stub
girder system allow the integration of structural and service
zones in two directions (Fig. 1.15), permitting storey-height
reduction when compared with some other structural
framing systems.
Figure 1.13 Composite truss
Shear connector Shear connector

Several forms of truss arrangement are possible. The three

most common web framing configurations in floor truss
and joist designs are: (a) Warren Truss, (b) Modified Warren
Truss and (c) Pratt Truss as shown in Fig. 1.14. The
efficiency of various web members in resisting vertical
shear forces may be affected by the choice of a web-framing
configuration. For example, the selection of Pratt web over
Warren web may effectively shorten compression diagonals Figure 1.15 Stub girder system
resulting in more efficient use of these members.

The resistance of a composite truss is governed by (l) Ideally, stub-girders span about 12 to 15 meters in contrast
yielding of the bottom chord (2) crushing of the concrete to the conventional floor beams which span about 6 to 9
slab, (3) failure of the shear connectors, (4) buckling of meters. The system is therefore very versatile, particularly
top chord during construction, (5) buckling of web with respect to secondary framing spans with beam depths
members, and (6) instability occurring during and after being adjusted to the required structural configuration and
construction. To avoid brittle failures, ductile yielding of mechanical requirements. Overall girder depths vary only
slightly, by varying the beam and stub depths. The major
disadvantage of the stub girder system is that it requires
temporary props at the construction stage, and these props
have to be remained until the concrete has gained adequate
(a) strength for composite action. However, it is possible to
introduce additional steel top chord, such as a T-section,
which acts in compression to develop the required bending
strength during construction. For span length greater than
(b) 15 meters, stub-girders become impractical, because the
slab design becoming critical.

In the stub girder system, the floor beams are continuous

(c) over the main girders and splice at the locations near the
points of inflection. The sagging moment regions of the
Figure 1.14 Truss configuration: floor beams are usually designed compositely with the
(a) Warren truss, deck-slab system, to produce savings in structural steel as
(b) Modified Warren truss, and well as to provide stiffness. The floor beams are 19olted to
(c) Pratt truss the top flange of the steel bottom chord of the stub-girder,
12

and two shear studs are usually specified on each floor the distance between two girders is large, precast planks
beam, over the beam-girder connection, for anchorage to can be supported by the lower concrete chord which is used
the deck-slab system. The stub-girder may be analysed as as permanent formwork.
a vierendeel girder, with the deck-slab acting as a
compression top-chord, the full-length steel girder as a Prestressing can also be achieved by using tendons which
tensile bottom-chord, and the steel stubs as vertical web can be attached to the bottom chord of a steel composite
members or shear panels. truss or the lower flange of a composite girder to enhance
the load-carrying capacity and stiffness of long-span
1.3.4.7 Prestressed Composite Beams structures (Fig. 1.17). This technique has been found to be
Prestressing of the steel girders is carried out such that the popular for bridge construction in Europe and USA,
concrete slab remains uncracked under the working loads although less common for building construction .
and the steel is utilised fully in terms of stress in the tension
zone of the girder.

Prestressing of steel beam can be carried out using a

precambering technique as depicted in Fig. 1.16. First a
steel girder member is prebent (Fig. 1.16a), and is then
subjected to preloading in the direction against the bending
curvature until the required steel strength is reached (Fig.
1.16b). Secondly, the lower flange of the steel member, Figure 1.17 Prestressing of composite steel girders
which is under tension, is encased in a reinforced concrete with tendons
chord (Fig. 1.16c). The composite action between the steel
beam and the concrete slab is developed by providing
adequate shear connectors at the interface. When the 1.3.5 Comparison of Floor Spanning Systems
concrete gains adequate strength, the steel girder is The conventional composite beams are the most common
prestressed by stress-relieving the precompressed tension forms of floor construction for a large number of building
chord (Fig. 1.16d). Further composite action can be projects. Typically they are highly efficient and economic
achieved by supplementing the girder with in-situ or with bay sizes in the range of 6 to 12 m. There is, however,
prefabricated reinforcement concrete slabs, and this will much demand for larger column free areas where, with a
produce a double composite girder (Fig. 1.16e). traditional composite approach, the beams tend to become
excessively deep, thus unnecessary increases the overall
The main advantage of this system is that the steel girders building height, with the consequent increases in cladding
are encased in concrete on all sides, no corrosion and fire costs, etc. Spans exceeding 12 m are generally achieved
protection are required on the sections. The entire process by choosing an appropriate structural form which integrates
of precambering and prestressing can be performed and the services within the floor structure, thereby reducing
automated in a factory. During construction, the lower the overall floor zone depths. Although a long span solution
concrete chord cast in the works can act as formwork. If may e ntail a small increase in structural costs, the
advantages of greater flexibility and adaptability in service
and the creation of column-free space often represent the

a) I most economic option over the design life of the building.

Figure 1.18 compares the various structural options of
typical range of span lengths used in practice.

bl L
r;;;..__ --*--ci~ I Span Length (m)
RC Beam & Slab
4
----
6 10 12 14 16 18 20 25

Steel Beam

cl ~=L======* ====i:::liS
Steel Plate Girder
Composite Steel Beam
Composite Plate Girder
Composite Beam with

d)~
Web Opening
l
T Parallel Beam System
Tapered Composite Beam
Stub Girder System

e) !;======~ Haunched Composite Beam

Composite Truss
Prestressed Composite Beam
Figure 1.16 Process of prestressing using
precambering technique Figure 1.18 Comparison offlooring systems
 13

1.3.6 Floor Diaphragms diaphragm stresses may be encountered and they must be
Typically, beams and columns rigidly connected for accounted for through proper detailing of slab
moment resistance are placed in orthogonal directions to reinforcement. Also, diaphragm stresses may be high where
resist lateral loads. Each plane frame would assume to there are large openings in the floor, in particular at the
resist a portion of the overall wind shear which is corners of the openings.
determined from the individual frame stiffness in proportion
to the overall stiffness of all frames in that direction. This The rigid diaphragm assumption is generally valid for most
is based on the assumption that the lateral loads are high-rise buildings (Fig. 1.20a); however, as the plan aspect
distributed to the various frames by the floor diaphragm. ratio (b/a) of the diaphragm linking two lateral systems
In order to develop proper diaphragm action, the floor slab exceeds 3 in 1 (see the illustration in Fig. 1.20b ), the
must be attached to all columns and beams that participate diaphragm may become semi-rigid or flexible. For such
in lateral-force resistance. For building relying on bracing cases, the wind shears must be allocated to the parallel shear
systems to resist all lateral load, the stability of a building frames according to the attributed area rather than relative
depends on rigid floor diaphragm to transfer wind shears stiffness of the frames.
from their point of application to the bracing systems such
as lattice frames, shear walls, or core walls. From the analysis point of view, a diaphragm is analogous
to a deep beam with the slab forming the web and the
The use of composite floor diaphragms in place of in-plane peripheral members serving as the flanges as shown in Fig.
steel bracing has become an accepted practice. The 1.20b. It is stressed principally in shear, but tension and
connection between slab and beams are often through shear compression forces must be accounted for In design.
studs which are welded directly through metal deck to the
beam flange. The connection between seams of adjacent A rigid diaphragm is useful to transmit torsional forces to
deck panels is crucial and often through inter-locking of the lateral-load resistance systems to maintain lateral
panels overlapping each other. The diaphragm stresses are stability. Figure 1.2la shows a building frame consisting
generally low and can be resisted by floor slabs which have of three shear walls resisting lateral forces acting in the
adequate thickness for most buildings. direction of Wall A. The lateral load is assumed to act as
a concentrated load with a magnitude F on each storey.
Plan bracing is necessary when diaphragm action is not Figure 1.2lb and 1.2lc show the building plan having
adequate. Figure 1.19a shows a triangulated plan bracing dimensions of L 1 and L2 • The lateral load resisting system
system which resists lateral load on one side and spans are represented in plan by the solid lines which represent
between the vertical walls. Fig. 1.19b illustrated the case Wall A, Wall B and Wall C. Since there is only one lateral
where the floor slab has adequate thickness and it can act resistance system (Wall A) in the direction of the applied
as diaphragm resisting lateral loads and transmitting the load, the loading condition creates a torsion (Fe), and the
forces to the vertical walls. However, if there is an abrupt diaphragm tends to rotate as shown by the dashed lines in
change in lateral stiffness or where the shear must be Fig. 1.21 b. The lateral load resistance systems in Wall B
transferred from one frame to the other due to the and Wall C will provide the resistance forces to stabilise
termination of lateral bracing system at certain height, large the torsional force by generating a couple of shear
resistance.

(a) (b)

Figure 1.19 (a) Triangulated plan bracing system

(b) concrete floor diaphragm
14

w w

I
a Floor Slab
Vertical
Bracing
r
a Floor Slab
b/a>3
Vertical
Bracing
System

1
System

1 b/a~ 3

~.------------------~.
L-- · -·-·-·-· -·-·- ·-·-·.i
~--------b--------~
Strut beam 1
!'-~---------,-_-_-_-_-_--;;:)~1 (>1
- - - -
~---------
- ....1
b
f>z - - - - -

(o.) (b)
Figure 1.20 Diaphragm rigidity
(a) Aspect ratio ::; 3
(b) Aspect ratio > 3

(a)
L, L,
-Va
1 r--

1
I

:1
Wall 8 1 - - ._ ._ Wall 8
I I
I
I
I
I
---
---
1F e JF
-~
t

iJ
vAf Lz
vJ
WanA 1 Wall A

l
I
I I
I I
I I
I Wall C Wall C
L
- Vc
L
-- -- ---- -- --.J
(b) (c)

Figure 1.21 (a) Lateral force resisting systems in a building

(a) Rigid diaphragm
(b) Flexible diaphragm
 15

Figure 1.21c illustrates the same condition except that a combined to form a single floor diaphragm. Composite
flexible diaphragm is used. The same torsional tendency concrete floors , incorporating permanent metal decking,
exists, but the flexible diaphragm is unable to generate a provide excellent diaphragm action provided that the
resisting couple in Wall B and Wall C, and the structure connections between the diaphragm and the peripheral
will collapse as shown by the dashed lines. To maintain members are adequate. When composite beams or girders
stability, a minimum of two vertical bracings in the direction are used, shear connectors will usually serve as boundary
of the applied force is required to resist any torional effects. connectors and intermediate diaphragm-to-beam
connectors. By fixing the metal decking to the floor beams,
The adequacy of the floor to act as a diaphragm depends an adequate floor diaphragm can be achieved during the
very much on its type. Precast concrete floor planks without construction stage.
any prestressing offer limited resistance to the racking
effects of diaphragm action. In such cases, supplementary It is essential at the start of the design of structural
bracing systems in plan , such as those shown in Fig. 1.19a, steelworks, to consider the details of the flooring system
are required for resistance of lateral forces. Where precast to be used, since these have a significant effect on the design
concrete floor units are employed, sufficient diaphragm of the structure. Table 1.1 summarises the salient features
action can be achieved by using a reinforced structural of the various types of flooring systems in terms of their
concrete topping, so that all individual floor planks are diaphragm actions .

Table 1.1 Details of typical flooring systems and their relative merits

Floor Typical Typical Construction Degree of Degree of Usage

System span depth (mm) Time lateral diaphragm
length (m) restraint action
to beans
In-situ 3-6 150-250 medium very good very good all
concrete categories
but not
often used
m
multistorey
buildings
Steel 2.5-3.6 110-150 fast very good very good all
deck unshore categories
with in- > 3.6 especially
situ shore in multistorey
concrete office
buildings
Precast 3-6 110-200 fast fair-good fair-good all
concrete categories
with
cranage
requirements
Pre- 6-9 110-200 medium fair-good fair-good multistorey
stressed buildings
concrete & bridges
16

1.4 DESIGN CONCEPTS AND This section offers advice on the general principles to be
STRUCTURAL SCHEMES applied when preparing a structural scheme for multistorey
steel and composite frames. The aim is to establish several
1.4.1 Introduction structural schemes that are practicable, sensibly economic,
Multistorey steel frames consist of column and beam and functional to the changes that are likely to be
interconnected to form a three-dimensional structure. A encountered as the overall design develops. The section
building frame can be stabilized either by some forms of begins by examining the design procedure and construction
bracing systems (braced frames) or by itself (unbraced considerations that are specific to steel gravity frames,
frames). All building frames must be designed to resist braced frames and moment resisting frames, and the design
lateral load to ensure overall stability. A common approach approaches to be adopted for sizing multi-storey building
is to provide a gravity framing system with one or more frames. The potential use of steel-concrete composite
lateral bracing systems attached to it. This type of framing material for high-rise construction is then presented.
system, which is generally referred to as simple braced Finally, the design issues related to braced and unbraced
frames, is found to be cost effective for multistorey composite frames are discussed.
buildings of moderate height (up to 20 storeys).
1.4.2 GRAVITY FRAMES
For gravity frames, the beams and columns are pinned Gravity frames refer to structures that are designed to resist
connected and the frames are not capable of resisting any only gravity loads. The bases for designing gravity frames
lateral loads. The stability of the entire structure is provided are as follows: '
by attaching the gravity frames to some forms of bracing 1) The beam and girder connections transfer only vertical
systems. The lateral loads are resisted mainly by the bracing shear reactions without developing bending moment
systems while the gravity loads are resisted by both the that will adversely affect the members and the structure
gravity frame and the bracing system. For buildings of as a whole.
moderate height, the bracing system's response to lateral 2) The beams may be designed as simply supported
forces is sufficiently stiff such that second-order effects member.
may be neglected for the design of such frames . 3) Columns must be fully continuous. The columns are
designed to carry axial loads only. Some codes of
In moment resisting frames, the beams and columns are practice (e.g., BS5950, 1990) require the column to
rigidly connected to provide moment resistance at joints, carry nominal moments due to the reaction force at
which may be used to resist lateral forces in the absence of the beam end, applied at an appropriate eccentricity.
any bracing systems. However, moment joints are rather 4) Lateral forces are resisted entirely by bracing frames
costly to fabricate. In addition, it takes longer time to erect or by shear walls, lift or staircase closures, through
a moment frame than a gravity frame. floor diaphragm action.

A cost effective framing system for multistorey buildings 1.4.2.1 General Guides
can be achieved by minimizing the number of moment The following points should be observed in the design of
joints, replacing field welding by field bolting, and gravity frames:
combining various framing schemes with appropriate 1) provide lateral stability to gravity framing by
bracing systems to minimize frame drift. A multistorey arranging suitable braced bays or core walls
structure is most economical and efficient is when it can deployed symmetrically in orthogonal directions,
transmit the applied loads to the foundation by the shortest or wherever possible, to resist lateral forces.
and most direct routes . For ease of construction, the 2) adopt a simple arrangement of slabs, beams and
structural schemes should be simple enough, which implies columns so that loads can be transmitted to the
repetition of member and joints, adoption of standard foundations by the shortest and most direct load
structural details, straightforward temporary works, and paths.
minimal requirements for inter-related erection procedure 3) tie all the columns effectively in orthogonal
to achieve the intended behavior of the completed structure. directions at every storey. This may be achieved
Sizing of structural members should be based on the longest by the provision of beams or ties that are placed
spans and largest attributed roof and/or floor areas. The as close as practicable to the columns.
same sections should be used for similar but less onerous 4) select a flooring scheme that provides adequate
cases. lateral restraint to the beams and adequate
diaphragm action to transfer the lateral load to the
Scheme drawings for multistorey building design should bracing system.
include the followings: 5) for tall building construction, choose a profiled-
1. general arrangement of the structure including, column steel-decking composite floor construction if
and beam layout, bracing frames, and floor systems, uninterrupted floor space is required and/or height
2. critical and typical member sizes, is at a premium. As a guide, limit the span of the
3. typical cladding and bracing details, floor slab to 2.5-3.6m; the span of the se~ondary
4. typical and unusual connection details, and beams to 6-12m; and the span of the primary
5. proposals for fire and corrosion protection. beams to 5-7m. Otherwise, choose a precast or
 17

an in-situ reinforced concrete floor, limiting their forces should be considered. The design axial force
span to 5-6m, and the span of the beams to 6-8m in the column is predominately governed by floor
approximately loading and the tributary areas.
3) The structure is statically determinate. The internal
1.4.2.2 Structural Layout forces and moments are therefore determined from a
In building construction, greater economy can be achieved consideration of statics.
through a repetition of similarly fabricated components. 4) Gravity frames must be attached to a bracing system
A regular column grid is Jess expensive than a non-regular so as to provide lateral stability to the part of the
grid for a given floor area. In addition, greater economies structure resisting gravity load. The frame can be
can be achieved when the column grids in plan are designed as a non-sway frame and the second-order
rectangular in which the secondary beams should span in moments associated with frame drift can be ignored.
the longer direction and the primary beams in the shorter 5) The leaning column effects due to column side-sway
as shown in Figs. 1.22a&b. This arrangement reduces the must be considered in the design of the frames that
number of beam-to-beam connections and the number of are participated in side sway resistance.
individual members per unit area of supported floor.
Since the beams are designed as simply supported between
Primary
their supports, the bending moments and shear forces are
beams independent of beam size. Therefore, initial sizing of beams
is a straight-forward task.
!¥1- beams
Secoiidary

Most conventional types of floor slab construction will

provide adequate lateral restraint to the compression flange
of the beam. Consequently, the beams may be designed as
laterally restrained beams without the moment resistance
being reduced by lateral-torsional buckling.
(a)

Under the service loading, the total central deflection of

Preferred
the beam or the deflection of the beam due to unfactored

-]Dill
Non-Preferred

-!WIJ
live load (with proper precambering for dead load) should
satisfy the deflection limits as given in Table 1.2.

- L,
IFor efficient layout LJL, ~ 1.3
L,
In some occasions, it may be necessary to check the
dynamic sensitivity of the beams. When assessing the
deflection and dynamic sensitivity of secondary beams, the
(b)
deflection of the supporting beams must also be included.
Whether it is the strength, deflection or dynamic sensitivity
Figure 1.22 (a) Rectanglular grid layout
which controls the design will depend on the span-to-depth
(b) Preferred and non-preferred grid grid
ratio of the beam. Figure 1.18 gives typical span ranges
layout
for beams in office buildings for which the design would
be optimized for strength and serviceability. For beams
with their span lengths exceeding those shown in Fig. 1.18,
In gravity frames, the beams are assumed to be simply
serviceability limits due to deflection and vibration will
supported between columns. The effective beam span to
most likely be the governing criteria for design.
depth ratio (LID) is about 12 to 15 for steel beams and 18
to 22 for simply supported composite beams. The design
The required axial forces in the columns can be derived
of beam is often dependent on the applied load, the type of
from the cumulative reaction forces from those beams that
beam system employed and the restrictions on structural
frame into the columns. Live load reduction should be
floor depth. The floor-to-floor height in a multistorey
considered in the design of columns in a multistorey frame.
building is influenced by the restrictions on overall building
If the frame is braced against side sway, the column node
height and the requirements for services above and/or below
points are prevent from lateral translation. A conservative
the floor slab. Naturally, flooring systems involving the
estimate of column effective length, KL, for buckling
use of structural steel members that act compositely with
considerations is l.OL, where L is the storey height.
the concrete slab achieve the longest spans.
However, in cases where the columns above and below
the storey under consideration are underutilized in terms
1.4.2.3 Analysis and Design
of load resistance, the restraining effects offered by these
The analysis and design of a simple braced frame must
members may result in an effective length of less than 1.0L
recognize the following points:
for the column under consideration. Such a situation arises
1) The members intersecting at a joint are pin connected.
where the column is continuous through the restrain~ points
2) The columns are not subject to any direct moment
and the columns above and/or below the restraint points
transferred through the connection, but nominal
are of different length.
moments due to eccentricity of the beam reaction
18

Table 1.2 Recommended deflection limits for steel building frames.

Beam deflections from unfactored imposed loads

Beams carrying plaster or brittle finish span/360

Other beams span/240
Edge beams supporting cladding span/500

Beam deflection due to unfactored dead and imposed loads

Internal beams with ceilings span/200

Edge beams supporting cladding span/350

Columns deflections from unfactored imposed and wind loads

Column in single storey frames height/300

Column in multistorey frames height of storey/300
Column supporting cladding height of storey/500
which is sensitive to large movement

Frame drift under 50 years wind load

Frame drift Frame height/450 ~ Frame height/600

1.4.2.4 Simple Connections which behaves like cantilever elements under lateral loads
Simple connections are designed to resist vertical shear at developing tension and compression in the column chords.
the beam end. Depending on the connection details Shear forces are resisted by the bracing members . The
adopted, it may also be necessary to consider an additional truss diagonalization may take various forms, as shown in
bending moment resulting from the eccentricity of the bolt Figure 1.24. The design of such structures must take into
line from the supporting face. Often the fabricator is told account the manner in which the frames are erected, the
to design connections based on the beam end reaction for distribution of lateral forces and their side sway resistance.
one-half uniformed distributed load (UDL). Unless the
concentrated load is located very near to the beam end,
UDL reactions are generally conservative. Because of the
large reaction, the connection becomes very strong which Secondary
may require large number of bolts. Thus it would be a Primary beam

;;d~~6
good practice to design the connections for the actual forces
used in the design of the beam. The engineer should give
the design shear force for every beam to the steel fabricator Web cleat
so that a more realistic connection can be designed, instead
of requiring all connections to develop the shear capacity
of the beam. Figure 1.23 shows the typical connections
that can be designed as simple connections. When the beam
reaction is known, capacity tables developed for simple
standard connections can be used for detailing such
Partial depth
end-plate
::~~
connections.

~B
1.4.3 BRACING SYSTEMS
Bracing frames provide the lateral stability to the entire
Fin-plate
structure. It has to design to resist all possible kinds of
lateral loading due to external forces, e.g. wind forces,
earthquake forces and "leaning forces" from the gravity
frames . The wind or the equivalent earthquake forces on
@:.
the structure, whichever are greater, should be assessed
and divided into the number of bracing bays resisting the
lateral forces in each direction.

1.4.3.1 Structural Forms

Steel braced systems are often in a form of vertical truss Figure 1.23 Simple Beam-to-Column Connection
 19

provides a more flexible overall response. Nevertheless,

it is more effective against seismic loading because it allows
for energy dissipation due to flexural and shear yielding of
the short beam segment.

1.4.3.2 Drift Assessment

The storey drift !l of a single storey diagonally braced
frame, as shown in Fig. 1.25, can be approximated by the
following equation:

~=~ s +~f

HI!d Hh3 (1.3)

(a) (b) (c) (d)

where
Figure 1.24 (a) Diagonal bracing
~ = total inter-storey drift
(b) Cross-bracing
(c) K-bracing L1, = storey drift due to shear component
(d) Eccentric bracing L1r = storey drift due to flexural component
Ac = area of the chord
Act = area of the diagonal brace
In the single braced forms, where a single diagonal brace E = modulus of elasticity
is used (Fig. 1.24a), it must be capable of resisting both H = horizontal force in the storey
tensile and compressive axial forces caused by the alternate h = storey height
wind load. Hollow sections may be used for the diagonal L = length of braced bay
braces as they are stronger in compression. In the design Lct = length of the diagonal brace
of diagonal braces, gravity forces may tend to dominate
the axial forces in the members and due consideration must The shear component ll, in Eq. (1.3) is caused mainly by
be given in the design of such members. It is recommended the axial deformation of the diagonal brace. The
that the slenderness ratio of the bracing member must not deformation associated with girder compression has been
be greater than 200 to prevent the self-weight deflection of neglected in the calculation of ll, because the axial stiffness
the brace limiting its compressive resistance. of the girder is very much larger than the stiffness of the
brace. The elongation of the diagonal braces gives rise to
In a cross-braced system (Fig. 1.24b), the brace members shear deformation of the frame, which is a function of the
are usually designed to resist tension only. Consequently, brace length, Lct and the angle of the brace (L/L). A shorter
light sections such as structural angles and channels, or tie brace length with a smaller brace angle will produce a lower
rods can be used to provide a very stiff bracing. The storey drift.
advantage of the cross braced system is that the beams are
not subjected to significant axial force, as the lateral forces The flexural component of the frame drift is due to tension
are mostly taken up by the bracing members. and compression of the windward and leeward columns.
The extension of the windward column and shortening of
ForK trusses, the diagonals do not participate extensively the leeward column cause flexural deformation of the
in carrying column load, and can thus be designed for wind
axial forces without gravity axial force being considered
as a major contribution. K-braced frame is more efficient H
in preventing side sway than cross-braced frame for equal
steel areas of braced members used. This type of system
is preferred for longer bay width because of the shorter
length of the braces. K-braced frame is found to be more
efficient if the apexes of all the braces are pointing in the
upward direction (Fig. 1.24c).

For eccentrically braced frame, the center line of the brace

is positioned eccentrically to the beam-column joint, as
shown in Fig. 1.24d. The system relies, in part, on flexure
of the short segment of the beam between the brace-beam
joint and the beam-column joint. The forces in the braces
are transmitted to the column through shear and bending Figure 1.25 Lateral displacement of a diagonally
Q

of the short beam segment. This particular arrangement braced frame

20

frame, which is a function of the area of the column and

the ratio of the height to bay length, (h/L). For slender
',, / r
-- - ~- -- ·
Bracing system

bracing frame with large h/L ratio, the flexural component

can contribute significantly to the overall storey drift.

Low-rise braced frame deflects predominately in shear

mode while high-rise braced frames tend to deflect more
in flexural mode.

1.4.3.3 Design Considerations

Frames with braces connecting columns may obstruct
locations of access openings such as windows and doors,
thus they should be placed where such access is not
required, e.g., around elevators, service and stair wells. The
location of the bracing systems within the structure will
influence the efficiency with which the lateral forces can
be resisted. The most appropriate position for the bracing
systems is at the periphery of the building (Figure 1.26a)
- Core bracing

since this arrangement provides greater torsional resistance.

Bracing frames should be situated where the center of
lateral resistance is approximately equal to the center of
shear resultant on plan. Where this is not possible, torsional "'
(b) \ _ _ Floor acts as diaphragm
forces will be induced, and they must be considered when
calculating the load carried by each braced system.

When core braced systems are used, they are normally

located at the center ofthe building (Fig. 1.26b). The
torsional stability is then provided by the torsional rigidity
of the core brace. For tall building frames, a minimum of
three braced bents are required to provide transitional and
torsional stability. These bents should be carefully arranged
+ (c)
so that their planes of action do not meet at one point so
as to form a center of rotation. The bracing arrangement
shown in Fig. 1.26c should be avoided.
Figure 1.26 Locations of braciang systems

RHS diagonal
bracing Vertical
bracing
Vertical
Braced
Truss Vertical
H-columns Plan View
Horizontal
!-beams

=:n.>,.-~ Ty~cal
stair tower

Figure 1.27 Simple building frame with vertical braced trusses located at the corners
 21

The flexibility of different bracing systems must be taken action is provided by lightweight concrete slab which acts
into account in the analysis, since the stiffer braces will compositely with metal decking and floor beams. The floor
attract a larger share of the applied lateral load. For tall beam-to-column connections are designed to resist shear
and slender frames, the bracing system itself can be a sway force only as shown in the figure.
frame, and a second-order analysis is required to evaluate
the required forces for ultimate strength and serviceability 1.4.4 MOMENT-RESISTING FRAMES
checks. In cases where bracing systems would disturb the
functioning of the building, rigidly jointed moment resisting
Lateral loads produce transverse shears, over turning frames can be used to provide lateral stability to the
moments and side sway. The stiffness and strength building, as illustrated in Fig. 1.28a. The efficiency of
demands on the lateral system increase dramatically with developing of lateral stiffness is dependent on bay span,
height. The shear increases linearly, the overturning number of bays in the frame, number of frames and the
moment as a second power and sway as a fourth power of available depth in the floors for the frame girders. For
the height of the building. Therefore, apart from providing building with heights not more than three times the plan
the strength to resist lateral shear and overturning moments, dimension, the moment frame system is an efficient form.
the dominant design consideration (especially for tall Bay dimensions in the range of 6m to 9 m and structural
building) is to develop adequate lateral stiffness to control height up to 20-30 storeys are commonly used. However,
sway. as the building height increases, deeper girders are required
to control drift, thus the design becomes uneconomical.
For serviceability verification, it requires that both the inter-
storey drifts and the lateral deflections of the structure as When a rigid unbraced frame is subjected to lateral load,
a whole must be limited. The limits depend on the the horizontal shear in a storey is resisted predominantly
sensitivity of the structural elements to shear deformations. by the bending of columns and beams. These deformations
Recommended limits for typical multistorey frames are cause the frame to deform in a shear mode. The design of
given in Table 1.2. When considering the ultimate limit these frames is controlled therefore by the bending stiffness
state, the bracing system must be capable of transmitting of individual members. The deeper the member, the more
the factored lateral loads safely down to the foundations. efficiently the bending stiffness can be developed. A small
Braced bays should be effective throughout the full height part of the frame side sway is caused by the overturning of
of the building. If it is essential for bracing to be the entire frame resulting in shortening and elongation of
discontinuous at one level, provision must be made to the columns at opposite sides of the frame. For unbraced
transfer the forces to other braced bays. Where this is not rigid frames up to 20-30 storeys, the overturning moment
possible, torsional forces may be induced, and they should contributes for about 10-20% of the total sway, whereas
be allowed for in design. shear racking accounts for the remaining 80-90% (Fig.
1.28b). However, the storey drift due to overall bending
Figure 1.27 shows an example of a building which tends to increase with height, while that due to shear racking
illustrates the locations at vertical braced trusses provided tends to decrease.
at the four corners to achieve lateral stability. Diaphragm

Lateral Load Sideswayof Shear Racking Column Shortening

Unbraced Frame Component Component

(a) (b)

Figure 1.28 Side away resistance of a rigid unbraced frame

22

1.4.4.1 Drift Assessment Apart from the beam span, height-to-width ratios of the
Since shear racking accounts for most of the lateral sway, building play an important role in the design of such
the design of such frames should direct towards minimizing structure. Wider building frames allow a larger number of
the side sway due to shear. The shear displacement L'1 in bays (i.e., larger values for storey summation terms I CIJ
a typical storey in a multistorey frame, as shown in Fig. h) and I,(I /L) in Eq. 1.4) with consequent reduction in
I g1 1

1.29, can be approximated by the equation: frame drift. Moment frames with closed spaced columns
which are connected by deep beams are very effective in
Vh 2 1 1 ) resisting side-sway, This kind of framing system is suitable
1~~
(
L'1; = :l:(Ici /hJ + :l:(Igi ILJ ( 1.4)
for use in the exterior planes of the building.
where
!1; = is the shear deflection of the i-th storey 1.4.4.2 Moment Connections
E = modulus of elasticity Fully welded moment joints are expensive to fabricate. To
Ic,, Ig = second moment of area for columns and girders minimize labor cost and to speed up site erection, field
respectively bolting instead of site welding should be used. Figure 1.30
h; = height of the ith storey show s several types of bolted or welded moment
L = length of girder in the i-th storey connections that are used in practice. Beam-to-column
v' = total horizontal shear force in the ith storey
l
flange connections can be shop-fabricated by welding of
I,(IJh) = sum of the column stiffness in the i-th storey a beam stub to an end plate or directly to a column. The
I,(Igt/L) = sum of the girder stiffness in the i-th storey
l
beam can then be erected by field bolting the end plate to
the column flanges or splicing beams (Fig.1.3C)c and 1.30d).
Examination of Eq. 1.4 shows that side-sway deflection
caused by storey shear is influenced by the sum of column An additional parameter to be considered in the design of
and beam stiffness in a storey. Since for multistorey columns of an unbraced frame is the "panel zone" between
construction, span lengths are generally larger than the the column and the transverse framing beams. When an
storey height, the moment of inertia of the girders needs to unbraced frame is subjected to lateral load, additional shear
be larger to match the column stiffness, as both of these forces are induced in the column web panel as shown in
members contribute equally to the storey drift. As the beam Fig. 1.31 . The shear force is induced by the unbalanced
span increases, considerably deeper beam sections will be moments from the adjoining beams causing the joint panel
required to control frame drift. to deform in shear. The deformation is attributed to the
large flexibility of the unstiffened column web. To prevent
Since the gravity forces in columns are cumulative, larger shear deformation so as to maintain the moment joint
column sizes are needed in lower stories as the frame height assumption as assumed in the global analysis, it may be
increases. Similarly, storey shear forces are cumulative,
and therefore, larger beam properties in lower stories are
required to control lateral drift. Because of limitations in
available depth, heavier beam members will need to be
provided at lower floors. This is the major shortcoming of
unbraced frames because considerable premium for steel
weight is required to control lateral drift as building height
increases.

r r r r1~
V; (a) (b)

2
JT z Jr 2
A

(a)

112 (cl
Beam Stub

(d)

J/2 Figure 1.30 (a) Bolted and welded connection with a

doubler plate
(b) (b) Bolted and welded connection with a
diagonal stiffener
Figure 1.29 Story drift due to (a) bending of columns (c) Bolted end-plate connection
(b) bending of girders (d) Beam stub welded to a column
 23

First-order elastic analysis can be used only in the following

cases:
1) Where the frame is braced and not subjected to side
sway.
2) Where an indirect allowance for second-order effects
is made through the use of moment amplification
factors and/or the column effective length. Eurocode
3 requires only second-order moment or effective
length factor to be used in the beam-column capacity
checks. However, column and frame imperfections
need to be modeled explicitly in the analysis. In the
American Standard (AISC LRFD), both factors need
to be computed for checking the member strength and
(a) (b) stability, and the analysis is based on structures without
initial imperfections.
Figure 1.31 Forces acting on a panel joint
(a) balanced moment due to gravity load The first-order elastic analysis is a convenient approach.
(b) unbalanced moment due to latera/load Most design offices possess computer software capable of
performing this method of analysis on large and highly
indeterminate structures . As an alter~ative, hand
necessary to stiffen the panel zone using either a doubler calculations can be performed on appropriate sub-frames
plate or a diagonal stiffener as shown in the joint details in within the structure (see Figure 1.32) comprising a
Figs. 1.30a and 1.30b. Otherwise, a heavier column with significantly reduced number of members. However, when
larger web area is required to prevent excessive shear conducting the analysis of an isolated sub-frame it is
deformation, and this is often the preferred method as important that:
stiffeners and doublers can add significant costs to 1) The sub-frame is indeed representative of the structure
fabrication. as a whole.
2) The selected boundary conditions are appropriate.
The engineer should not specify full-strength moment 3) Account is taken of the possible interaction effects
connections unless they are required for ductile frame between adjacent sub-frames.
design for high seismic loads. For wind loads and for 4) Allow for second-order effects through the use of
conventional moment frames where beams and columns column effective length or moment amplification
are sized for stiffness (drift control) instead of strength, factors.
full strength moment connections are not required. Even
so, many designers will specify full strength moment Plastic analysis generally requires more sophisticated
connections, adding to the cost of fabrication . Designing computer programs, which enable second order effects to
for actual loads has the potential to reduce column weight be taken into account. For building structures in which the
or reduce the stiffener and doubler plate requirements. required rotations are not calculated, all members
containing plastic hinges must have plastic cross-sections.
If the panel zone is stiffened to prevent inelastic shear
deformation, the conventional structural analysis based on A basic procedure for the design of an unbraced frame is
the member center-line dimension will generally as follows:
overestimate the frame displacement. If the beam-column 1) Obtain approximate member size based on gravity load
joint sizes are relatively small compared to the member analysis of sub-frames shown in Fig. 1.32. If side-
spans, the increase in frame stiffness using member center- sway deflection is likely to control (e.g., slender
line dimension will be offset by the increase in frame frames) use Eq. 1.4 to estimate the member sizes.
deflection due to panel-joint shear deformation. If the joint 2) Determine wind moments from the analysis of the
sizes are large, a more rigorous second-order analysis, entire frame subjected to lateral load. A simple portal
which considers panel zone deformations, may be required wind analysis may be used in lieu of the computer
for an accurate assessment of the frame response. analysis.
3) Check member capacity for the combined effects of
1.4.4.3 Analysis And Design of Unbraced Frames factored lateral load plus gravity loads.
Multistorey moment frames are statically indeterminate, 4) Check beam deflection and frame drift.
the required design forces can be determined using either: 5) Redesign the members and perform final analysis/
( 1) elastic analysis or (2) plastic analysis. Whilst elastic design check (a second-order elastic analysis is
methods of analysis can be used for all kind of steel preferable at the final stage).
sections, plastic analysis is only applicable for frames
whose members are of plastic sections so as to enable the The need to repeat the analysis to correspond to changed
development of plastic hinges and to allow for inelastic section sizes is unavoidable for highly redundant rames.
redistribution of forces. Iteration of Steps 1 to 5 gives results that will converge to
24

an economical design satisfying the various design frames and provide resistance to some part of the lateral
constraints imposed on the analysis. loads by engaging the core walls in the building.

The core generally provides all torsional and flexural

rigidity and strength with no participation from the steel
system. Conceptually, the core system should be treated
as a cantilever wall system with punched openings for
access. The floor-framing should be arranged in such a
way that it distributes enough gravity loads to the core walls
so that their design is controlled by compressive stresses
External span even under wind loads. The geometric location of the core
(a) Sub-frame for beam
should be selected so as to minimize eccentricities for lateral
load. The core walls need to have adequate torsional
resistance for possible asymmetry ,o f the core system where
the center of the resultant shear load is acting at an
eccentricity from the center of the lateral-force resistance.

External span A simple cantilever model should be adequate to analyze

(b) Sub-frame for column design a core wall structure. However, if the structural form is a
tube with openings for access, it may be necessary to
Figure 1.32 Sub-frame analysis for gravity loads perform a more accurate analysis to include the effect of
openings. The walls can be analysed by a finite element
analysis using thin-walled plate elements. An analysis of
1.4.5 BUILDING FRAMING SYSTEMS this type may also be required to evaluate torsional stresses
The following subsections discuss four classical systems when the vertical profile of the core-wall assembly is
that have been adopted for tall building constructions, asymmetrical.
namely (1) core braced system, (2) moment-truss system
(3) outriggle and belt system, and (4) tube systems. Tall The concrete core walls can be constructed using slip-form
frames that utilize cantilever action will have higher techniques, where the core walls could be advanced several
efficiencies, but the overall structural efficiency depends
on the height-to-width ratio. Interactive systems involving
moment frame and vertical truss or core are effective up to
40 stories and represent most building forms for tall
structures. Outrigger truss and belt truss help to further
enhance the lateral stiffness by engaging the exterior frames
H·-
r~
with the core braces to develop cantilever actions. Exterior
framed tube systems with closely spaced exterior columns ~·~-[~]
connected by deep girders mobilize the three-dimensional
action to resist lateral and torsional forces. Bundled tubes
improve the efficiency of exterior frame tubes by providing
internal stiffening to the exterior tube. Finally, by providing
diagonal braces to the exterior framework, a superframe is
·-
[-
f-t

formed and can be used for ultra-tall magastructures. S;mple s1eel frammg '-- Composite slab

Floor Plan
1.4.5.1 Core Braced Systems
This type of structural system relies entirely on the internal
core for lateral load resistance. The basic concept is to
provide internal shear wall core to resist the lateral forces
(Fig. 1.33). The surround steel framing is designed to carry
gravity load only if simple framing is adopted. Otherwise,
a rigid framing surrounding the core will enhance the
overall lateral-force resistance of the structure. The steel
beams can be simply connected to the core walls using a
typical corbel detail, or by bearing in a wall pocket or by
shear plate embedded in the core wall through studs. If
rigid connection is required, the steel beams should be Figure 1.33 Core-braced frame
rigidly connected to steel columns embedded in the core (a) Internal core walls with simple exterior
wall. Rigid framing surrounding the cores are particularly framing
useful in high seismic areas, and for very tall buildings (b) Beam-to-wall and beam to exterior
that tend to attract stronger wind loads. They act as moment column connections
 25

floors (typically 4 to 6 storeys) ahead of the exterior steel efficient structure for lateral load resistance. An example
framing. Core wall system represents an efficient type of of a building consisting of moment frames with shear
structural system up to certain height premium because of trusses located at the center of the building is shown in
its cantilever action. However, when it is used alone, the Fig. 1.34a. For the vertical trusses arranged in the North-
massiveness of the wall structure increase with height, South direction, either the K- or X-form of bracing is
thereby inhabiting the free planning of interior spaces, acceptable since access to lift-shafts is not required.
especially in the core. The space occupied by the shear However, K trusses are often preferred because in the case
walls leads to loss of overall floor area efficiency, as of X or single brace form bracings the influence of gravity
compared to tube system which could otherwise be used. loads is rather significant. In the East-West direction, only
the Knee bracing is effective in resisting lateral load.
In commercial buildings where floor space is a valuable,
the large area taken up by a concrete column can be reduced In some cases internal bracing can be provided using
by the use of an embedded steel column to resist the extreme concrete shear walls as shown in Fig. 1.34b. The internal
loads encountered in tall building. Sometimes, particularly core walls substitute the steel trusses in K, X or single brace
at the bottom open floors of a high rise structure where form which may interfere with openings that provide access
large open lobbies or atriums are utilized as part of the to, for example, elevators.
architectural design, a heavy embedded steel section as part
of a composite column is necessary to resist high load and The interaction of shear frames and vertical trusses
due to the long unbraced length. A heavy steel section in produces a combination of two deflection curves with the
a composite column is often utilized where the column size effect of more efficient stiffness. These moment frame-
is restricted architecturally and where reinforcing steel truss interacting systems are considered to be the most
percentages would otherwise exceed the maximum code economical steel systems for buildings up to 40 stories.
allowed values for the deign of reinforced concrete Figure 1.35 compares the sway characteristic of a twenty-
columns. storey steel frame subjected to same lateral forces, but with
different structural schemes namely (1) unbraced moment
1.4.5.2 Frame-Truss Systems frame, (2) simple-truss frame and (3) moment-truss frame.
Vertical shear trusses located around the inner core in one The simple-truss frame helps to control lateral drift at the
or both directions can be combined with perimeter moment- lower stories, but the overall frame drift increases toward
resisting frames in the facade of a building to form an the top of the frame. The moment frame, on the other hand,
shows an opposite characteristic for side sway in
Moment connection comparison with the simple braced frame. The combine

~
of moment frame and truss frame provides overall

. l=I~I~I~I ~
r - - r - --r- --r:~xr.--r. bracing
improvement in reducing frame drift; the benefit becomes

l Olll1f9-···-
Moment-Truss Frame

20 /I

I I l l 18

16 I
//~\'
I
~-----~-----r-----r-----~r ~~ I

(a I 1~ ~ 1
I Unbraced Moment Frame

~ 12
E f
f~,/,II
oElO
f
-
>-
....
c 8 f ;' Simple
:::::=cr=;==-t- Concrete
V>
f , Truss
Walls I Frome

X~
6

f==- ~
/
/'
Simple

.IIII.
connections
2 , ;'
00 5 10 15 20
I-----~-----I-----I-----I----I
(bl Lateral Deflection (em)

Figure 1.34 (a) Moment-frames with internal braced Figure 1.35 Sway characteristics of rigid braced
trusses frame, simple braced frame and ~igid
(b) Moment-frames with internal core walls unbraced frame
26

more pronounce towards the top of the frame. The braced external columns together with the internal core to act in
truss is restrained by the moment frame at the upper part a cantilever mode; the other is related to the stiffening of
of the building while at the lower part, the moment frame the external facade frame by the belt truss to act as a three-
is restrained by the truss frame. This is because the slope dimensional tube. The overall stiffness can be increased
of frame sway displacement is relatively smaller than that up to 25 % as compared to the shear truss and frame system
of the truss at the top while the proportion is reversed at without such outrigger-belt trusses.
the bottom. The interacting forces between the truss frame
and moment frame, as shown in Fig. 1.36, enhance the The efficiency of this system is related to the number of
combined moment-truss frame stiffness to a level larger trussed levels and the depth of the truss. In some cases the
than the summation of individual moment frame and truss outrigger and belt trusses have a depth of two or more
stiffnesses. floors. They are located in services floors where there are
no requirements for wide open spaces. These trusses are
often pleasingly integrated into the architectural conception
of the facade.
Braced
trame 1.4.5.4 Frame Thbe Systems
Figure 1.39 shows a typical frame tube system, which
consists of a frame tube at the exterior of the building and
gravity steel framing at the interior. The framed tube is
constructed from wide columns placed at Close centers
(a) (b) connected by deep beams creating a punched wall
appearance. The exterior frame tube structure resists all
Figure 1.36 Behavior offrames subjected to lateral load lateral loads of wind or earthquake whereas the gravity
(a) independant behavior steel framing in the interior resist only its share of gravity
(b) interactive behavior loads. The behavior of the exterior frame tube is similar
to a hollow perforated tube. The over-turning moment
under the action of lateral load is resisted by compression
1.4.5.3 Outrigger and Belt Truss Systems and tension of the leedward and windward columns, which
Another significant improvement of lateral stiffness can are called the flange columns. The shear is resisted by
be obtained if the vertical truss and the perimeter shear bending of the columns and beams at the two sides of the
frame are connected on one or more levels by a system of building parallel to the direction of the lateral load, which
outrigger and belt trusses. Figure 1.37 shows a typical are called the web frames.
example of such system. The outrigger truss leads the wind
forces of the core truss to the exterior columns providing
cantilever behavior of the total frame system. The belt
Sway with core
truss in the facade improves the cantilever participation of
truss + outrigger
the exterior frame and creates a three-dimensional frame
behavior.

Figure 1.38 shows a schematic diagram that demonstrates

the sway characteristic of the overall building under lateral
load. Deflection is significantly reduced by the introduction
of the outrigger-belt trusses. Two kinds of stiffening effects
can be observed; one is related to the participation of the

Sway with core

truss alone

Section a-a
Figure 1.38 Improvement of lateral stiffness tlsing
Figure 1.37 Outrigger and belt-truss system outrigger-belt truss system
 27

tube-in-tube system. The concrete core may be strategically

located to recapture elevator space and to provide
tran smission of mechanical ducts from shafts and
mechanical rooms.

1.4.6 STEEL-CONCRETE COMPOSITE SYSTEMS

'
X
Steel-concrete composite construction has gained wide
acceptance as an alternative to pure steel and pure concrete
construction. Composite building systems can be broadly
(a) categorized into two forms : one utilizes the core-braced
system by means of interior shear walls, and the other
utilizes exterior framing to form a tube for lateral load
resistance. Combining these two structural forms will
enable taller buildings to be constructed.
Erection column

11--.!.10-+- Steel spandrel

For composite frames resisting gravity load only, the beam-
Compos~e column
to-column connections behave as pinned before the
Column vertical reinforcement placement of concrete. During construction, the beam is
Column ties designed to resist concrete dead load and the construction
load (to be treated as temporary live load). At the composite
stage, the composite strength and stiffness of the beam
(b) should be utilized to resist the full design loads. For gravity
frames consisting of bare steel columns and composite
Figure 1.39 Composite tubular system beams, there is now sufficient knowledge available for the
designer to use composite action in the structural element
as well as the semi-rigid composite joints to increase design
Deepening on the shear rigidity of the frame tube, there choices, leading to more economical solutions.
may exist a shear lag across the windward and leeward
sides of the tube. As a result of this, not all the flange Figures 1.41 a&b show the typical beam-to-column
columns resist the same amount of axial force. An connections, one using flushed end-plate bolted to the
approximate approach is to assume an equivalent column column flange and the other using bottom angle with double
model as shown in Fig. 1.40. In the calculation of the lateral web cleats. Composite action in the joint is developed
deflection of the frame tube it is assumed that only the based on the tensile forces developed in the rebars acting
equivalent flange columns on the windward and leeward with the balancing compression forces transmitted by the
sides of the tube and the web frames would contribute to lower portion of the steel section that bear against the
the moment of inertia of the tube. column flange to form a couple. Properly designed and
detailed composite connections are capable of providing
The use of exterior framed tube has two distinct advantages: moment resistance up to the hogging resistance of the
( 1) It develops high rigidity and strength for torsional and connecting members.
lateral-load resistance, since the structural components are
effectively placed at the exterior of the building forming a
three-dimensional closed section. (2) Massiveness of frame
tube system eliminates potential uplift difficulties and Distribution without

~~j---~t~~~t:~~:l
produces better dynamic behavior. (3) The use of gravity
steel framing in the interior has the advantages of flexibility,
and enables rapid construction. If composite floor with
metal decking is used, electrical and mechanical services
can be incorporated in the floor zone.

Composite columns are frequently used in the perimeter

m Ill

w--__---=-:. =---'W
m--Equivolent
axial stress
of the building where the closely spaced columns work in
conjunction with the spandrel beam (either steel or
concrete) to form a three-dimensional cantilever tube rather
than an assembly of two-dimensional plane frames. The -;- -~-----'- Distribution
exterior frame tube significantly enhances the structural without
shear log
efficiency in resisting lateral loads and thus reduces the
shear wall requirements. However, in cases where a higher t t t
magnitude of lateral stiffness is required (such as for vary Lateral force
tall buildings), internal wall cores and interior columns with
floor framing can be added to transform the system into a Figure lAO Equivalent column model for frame tube
28

moment at one end of the beam and positive moment on

the other end. The concrete is assumed to be ineffective
in tension, therefore only the steel beam stiffness on the
negative moment region and the composite stiffness on the
positive moment region can be utilized for frame action.
The frame analysis can be performed with variable moment
of inertia for the beams. Further research is still needed in
order to provide tangible guidance for design.

If semi-rigid composite joints are used in unbraced frames,

the flexibility of the connections will contribute to
additional drift over that of a fully rigid frame. In general,
semi-rigid connections do not require the column size to
be increased significantly over an equivalent rigid frame.
(a)
This is because the design of frames with semi-rigid
composite joints takes advantage of the additional stiffness
in the beams provided by the composite action. The
increase in beam stiffness would partially offset the
additional flexibility introduced by the semi-rigid
connections.

Further research is required to assess the performance of

various types of composite connections used in building
construction. Issues related to accurate modeling of
effective stiffness of composite members and joints in
unbraced frames for the computation of second-order
effects and drifts need to be addressed.

(b) ' ---!.. • •

Figure 1.41 Composite beam-to-column connections

with
(a) flushed end plate
(b) seat and double web angles
l)
(a) Connection detail
In designing the connections, slab reinforcements placed
within a horizontal distance of 6 times the slab depth are
assumed to be effective in resisting the hogging moment. Projection ;, 0.2L

Reinforcement steels that fall outside this width should not

J• •
be considered in calculating the resisting moment of the
connection (see Fig. 1.42). The connections to edge
columns should be carefully detailed to ensure adequate U bars

anchorage of re-bars. Otherwise they shall be designed Effective breadth of slab

S6D, at edge columns
and detailed as simply supported. In braced frame a
moment connection to the exterior column will increase
the moments in the column, resulting in an increase of
column size. Although the moment connections restrain
the column from buckling by reducing the effective length,
this is generally not adequate to offset the strength required
(b) Reinforcement detail
to resist this moment.

For an unbraced frame subjected to gravity and lateral loads, Figure 1.42 Moment transfer through reinforcerent
the beam typically bends in double curvature with negative at perimeter columns