Sustainability and Economic Benefits in the Use of High Strength Steels in the Construction of A Skyscraper

by Jitendra Patel, Tiago Costa

Publisher - International Metallurgy Ltd, CBMM Technology Suisse S.A., Switzerland, CBMM Asia, Singapore

Category - General Novel

The world’s top 10 tallest buildings are listed as using a composite or steel / concrete material system (this refers to a building with a steel structural system located above a concrete structural system). The current completed tallest composite building is Taipei 101 in Taiwan at 508m tall consisting of 101 floors. It was completed in 2004 and ranks the 3 rd tallest. Today, the vast majority of buildings under construction taller than Taipei 101 are using a composite material system. In consideration of this, a study was undertaken with a world leading independent engineering consultancy firm to investigate what benefits could be realised by the use of higher strength steels at the design stage for a composite material system. A live project was selected for this study, with the proposed +230m tall building comprising of offices, hotel, residential and parking. The project site is located in a seismic area in Latin America. All of the building’s gravity and lateral (wind and seismic) loads are carried by an architecturally expressed perimeter frame formed from highly efficient Steel Reinforced Concrete (SRC) columns coupled together by a steel tube perimeter bracing. The study investigated the implications of substituting Grade 50 (YS=345MPa) carbon steel with a higher strength niobium microalloyed Grade 70 (YS=480MPa) steel in the design, and clearly showed that significant savings in material costs are possible if such steels were employed. Furthermore, it highlighted that further efficiencies could be made if early consideration in the use of higher strength steels was considered for other key structural elements. This paper presents the key findings of the study and highlights the sustainable and economic benefits that can be realised when early consideration is given to the use of higher strength steels in the construction of a skyscraper.

Please login to borrow the book.