Estimation method of tall building structure system in architecture project design

Architecture project design is a key stage to tall building design because its structure form, structure system and main member dimension may be determined, and the possibility to influence construction cost may attain 70-80% in this stage. Based on building conditions in architecture project design, such as building function, storeys, height, length/width ratio, height/width ratio, floor height and the maximum wind pressure, seismic intensity and site type, one of the estimation methods for building structure behaviour under these combined action is presented. In this method, every storey in the building is taken as a macro-element. The member in the building, such as beams, columns, walls and slabs, are included in the macro-element. Considering the contribution of each member, the macro-element stiffness is established for each storey. Then, the estimation analysis of the building structure is carried out following the finite element method. Comparing the analysis results, such as internal force and storey deformation with the usual analysis method, it is known that this estimation analysis method can be used to estimate the behaviour of the building structure system in architecture project design. It is also a useful tool to architects and structure engineers in estimating the applicability of the structure system. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.