Contribution of typical non-structural components to the performance of high-rise buildings based on field reconnaissance

Abstract

A high-rise building is usually considered as the assemblage of different structural components adopting diverse structural forms in the structural design process. Non-structural components such as facades, infill walls and partition walls, and so on are seldom integrated in the structural analysis. However, based on the information collected from a field reconnaissance in the Asian-Pacific region, along with the analyses of a case-study building, this study observes that the building almost always works as an integrated system, which includes both structural and non-structural components. Thus, non-structural components can make significant contributions to the overall lateral structural stiffness of a building. Because of different design foci in the regions investigated, it is also concluded that different levels of attention should be given to the integration of non-structural components into the structural analysis, especially relating to the geological and hazard conditions in a particular area. © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.