Advanced Modelling Techniques in Structural Design

Feng Fu

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781118825433
• eBook ISBN: 9781118825457
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Civil Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The successful design and construction of iconic new buildings relies on a range of advanced technologies, in particular on advanced modelling techniques. In response to the increasingly complex buildings demanded by clients and architects, structural engineers have developed a range of sophisticated modelling software to carry out the necessary structural analysis and design work.

Advanced Modelling Techniques in Structural Design introduces numerical analysis methods to both students and design practitioners. It illustrates the modelling techniques used to solve structural design problems, covering most of the issues that an engineer might face, including lateral stability design of tall buildings; earthquake; progressive collapse; fire, blast and vibration analysis; non-linear geometric analysis and buckling analysis . Resolution of these design problems are demonstrated using a range of prestigious projects around the world, including the Buji Khalifa; Willis Towers; Taipei 101; the Gherkin; Millennium Bridge; Millau viaduct and the Forth Bridge, illustrating the practical steps required to begin a modelling exercise and showing how to select appropriate software tools to address specific design problems.

Chapter 1
Introduction

1.1 Aims and scope

With the fast development of modern construction technology, major international city skylines are changing dramatically. More and more complex buildings, such as Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing and the London Aquatic Centre, have been built over the past decade. As a Chartered Structural Engineer, the author has worked for several leading international consultancy companies and has worked on several prestigious projects around the world. The experience of the author demonstrates that in current design practice most of these buildings could not have been designed without the use of advanced modelling techniques. Fierce competition in the current design market also requires structural engineers to handle the increasing difficulty in designing the more complicated projects required by both clients and architects. This challenge can only be tackled by using modern computer technology. It also imposes a big change in the role of the structural engineer: in addition to knowledge of basic design principles and structural analysis methods, an engineer should also have a full understanding of the latest modelling techniques. This is also the reason that advanced computer modelling skills have recently become essential for an engineer's recruitment by increasing numbers of design consultancies.

However, in the construction industry, most structural engineers find themselves lacking modelling knowledge, as few textbooks have been provided in this area. For students, although some elementary modelling techniques are taught in most Civil Engineering courses, no systematic introduction is made, let alone how to model a real construction project in practice. Therefore, a book in this area is imperative.

The main purpose of this book is to introduce and provide detailed knowledge of advanced numerical analysis methods and important design principles for both students and design practitioners. It addresses effective modelling techniques in solving real design problems and covers a broad range of design issues – such as lateral stability of tall buildings, buckling analysis of long-span structures and earthquake design – and some special issues such as progressive collapse, blast, structural fire analysis, foot-induced vibrations and so on.

It also introduces a variety of major modelling programs (such as SAP2000, ETABS, Abaqus®¹, ANSYS) and preprocessing software (Rhino, Revit, AutoCAD) used in current structural design practice. A number of modelling examples using this software are provided in the book. Most of the model examples are based on a worldwide selection of real design projects, such as the Millennium Bridge and Burj Kalifa, helping readers to find an effective way to model these types of structures.

In addition, the algorithms and theories that underpin the analysis, such as the finite element method (FEM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method, are also introduced. Along with the introduction of modelling techniques, relevant design principles and design guidance are also covered. Thus this book can also serve as a handbook for structural engineers. A feature of this work is that it introduces advanced and complicated theory in a more understandable and practical way.

In real design practice, we analyse the structure with an advanced program to gain a level of confidence, such as a ball-park figure for the size of the structural members, but when we start the design we will still follow a code of practice, even though some are quite conservative. Advanced modelling is particularly complementary to current design guidance in those areas where it is still not clear. Therefore, this book will help readers understand the balance between analysis and design.

1.2 Main structural design problems

As a structural engineer, one is required to design different type of buildings such as tall buildings, bridges and space structures. Each type of structure features different structural design problems that a structural engineer needs to pay special attention to during their design. This book covers almost all the important design issues in modern construction projects. In this section, a brief introduction to these different structural problems will be given.

In tall building design, the main issue is the design of the lateral stability systems. In Chapter 3, a detailed introduction to the different lateral stability systems – such as out-triggers, tubular systems and bracing systems – will be given in addition to information on how to model them effectively.

Earthquake design is important for buildings being built in high seismic activity areas. This is covered in Chapter 4. The major earthquake analysis methods – such as response spectrum analysis, time history analysis and push-over analysis – are introduced and modelling examples in SAP2000 are also provided.

Progressive collapse has become another important issue since 911: Chapter 5 covers this topic. The design methods provided by the design guidance are introduced. Different analysis procedures, such as linear static, nonlinear static, linear dynamic and nonlinear dynamic analysis, are explained. A modelling example of nonlinear dynamic progressive collapse analysis is demonstrated using SAP2000.

Aside from conventional loading, blast and fire are other possible threats to the building and its occupants, and Chapters 6 and 7 cover these issues. How to represent these types of special loading and the corresponding design guidance are introduced. In Chapter 6 a new technique in modelling blast or impact effect, the SPH method, is introduced and a modelling example of SPH analysis using Abaqus® is demonstrated. In Chapter 7, a modelling example of heat transfer analysis of a structure is demonstrated.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Major modelling programs and building information modelling (BIM)
• Chapter 3: Tall buildings
• Chapter 4: Earthquake analysis of buildings
• Chapter 5: Progressive collapse analysis
• Chapter 6: Blast and impact loading
• Chapter 7: Structural fire analysis
• Chapter 8: Space structures
• Chapter 9: Bridge structures
• Chapter 10: Foot-induced vibration
• Index
• End User License Agreement