A proposal for the classification of structural systems of tall buildings

In the early structures at the beginning of the 20th century, structural members were assumed to carry primarily the gravity loads. Today, however, by the advances in structural design/systems and high-strength materials, building weight is reduced, and slenderness is increased, which necessitates taking into consideration mainly the lateral loads such as wind and earthquake. Understandably, especially for the tall buildings, as the slenderness, and so the flexibility increases, buildings suffer from the lateral loads resulting from wind and earthquake more and more. As a general rule, when other things being equal, the taller the building, the more necessary it is to identify the proper structural system for resisting the lateral loads. Currently, there are many structural systems that can be used for the lateral resistance of tall buildings. In this context, authors classify these systems based on the basic reaction mechanism/structural behavior for resisting the lateral loads. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.