A team of structural engineers at the University of Surrey has partnered with industry experts to check and enhance the robustness of skyscrapers. The researchers collaborated with experts from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), a collective of architects, designers, engineers and planners famous for buildings such as the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, and the Sears Tower in Chicago.
‘Using a model our team developed, we analysed what would happen if external factors such as vehicle impact, blasts or fires caused a particular type of failure, where a column supporting a building on the outside punches through one of the concrete slabs separating each storey,’ said Juan Sagaseta, reader in structural robustness at the University of Surrey.
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The team applied the model to real high-rise building designs, exploring what would happen if corner and side columns were suddenly removed. ‘Reassuringly, our research showed the robustness of typical well-designed modern buildings in non-seismic areas, said Sagaseta. ‘We demonstrated that good design and engineering can prevent a progressive collapse – where one slab falls, causing others below to fall in a chain reaction.’
‘By using this model in both conceptual and detailed design stages, we can predict what damage will result if columns are suddenly removed due to external factors,’ said Karl Micallef, associate principal (structural engineer) at SOM. ‘This helps advance our understanding of robustness considerations and ensures we incorporate them into our buildings, keeping our iconic towers – and the people who inhabit them – safe.’
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The team focused on tall buildings constructed using reinforced concrete flat slabs supported by a central core and perimeter columns. This layout is commonly used in office and residential buildings. It’s a popular design because it reduces storey height, maximises natural daylight, enables quick construction and offers flexible layouts on each floor.
Such buildings are highly robust, even when extremely tall. However, the team explored what would happen if the supportive columns were damaged by external factors in accidental situations, for example, by vehicle impact or local fire.
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The research has been published in Structures.