Advancements in Tall Building Structural Systems to Resist Lateral Loads: Primary Structural Systems and Auxiliary Damping Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Tall buildings, with their global symbolic presence and economic benefits in dense urban land use scenarios, are a worldwide architectural phenomenon. Due to their height, tall buildings are built with the most advanced technologies. This Special Issue of Buildings invites articles on the evolution and emerging developments of structural systems in tall buildings to resist lateral loads.

In the late 19th century, early multistory office buildings in many cases were built with interior iron frames and perimeter masonry walls. A breakthrough occurred in the mid-1880s when, in conjunction with the development of curtainwall façades, metal skeletal frames were used for the perimeter of multistory buildings. Since then, tall buildings have continued to grow in height. The supertall height of over 300 m was reached in the early 1930s and megatall heights of over 600 m have been reached today. Moreover, while early tall buildings were mostly built in Chicago and New York, today’s tall buildings are built worldwide, including in major seismic zones. This remarkable global evolution of tall buildings involves continued developments of novel structural systems including damping mechanisms.

The importance of more efficient and sustainable structural design is especially significant for taller structures due to the “premium for height”. The wind effect increases with increasing height following power law, thereby intensifying the premium for height. It is also important to note that the second-order effect of wind loading makes matters worse as lateral sway becomes more pronounced for a tall building. Even in seismic zones, for very tall buildings that have low natural frequencies, lateral sways due to wind, especially vortex-shedding-induced lateral vibrations, control the design in many cases. Certainly, adequate ductility and energy-dissipation capacity of a building must also be ensured for seismic loads by appropriately detailing structural components, connections, and damping mechanism. As many supertall buildings have been built in major seismic zones in recent years, the consideration of earthquakes has become an important structural design issue in addition to wind.

This Special Issue invites articles on advancements in tall building structural systems to resist wind and seismic loads, including primary structural systems and auxiliary damping systems. With the prevalence of tall buildings in major cities throughout the globe and the concerns generated by this building type, more investigative work into the role of tall buildings and their technologies is crucial in academia and the building industry to create more sustainable built environments. Thank you for considering to contribute to this important effort.

Dr. Kyoung Sun Moon
Guest Editor

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