Tall Building Core

Most tall buildings use reinforced concrete walls in the core of the building to resist wind and seismic loads. However, conventional core walls must remain elastic when subjected to wind loads. This can prevent ductile behavior when subjected to seismic loads. This project is part of an ongoing research effort at BYU sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction to explore the potential of coupled composite plate shear walls filled with concrete to allow inelastic wind behavior. The objective of this project is to produce ductile core wall designs for a 46-story building located in Seattle, Washington. Three designs are to be produced: one for a 110-mph wind, a 127-mph wind, and a 156-mph wind. The focus of the project is on the design of the core walls only. The design of the surrounding gravity frame, the foundation design, and connections and detailing outside the core wall area are beyond the scope of the project.