(Press-News.org) The safety of tall buildings in the world's cities, in the face of extreme external traumas like vehicle impacts, blasts or fires, has been tested using a model developed by structural engineers at the University of Surrey – with reassuring results.
Surrey's structural engineers partnered with industry experts to check and enhance the robustness of skyscrapers. Surrey's researchers collaborated with experts at the respected collective of architects, designers, engineers and planners, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), famous for buildings like the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest skyscraper, and the Sears Tower in Chicago.
Dr Juan Sagaseta, lead author of the study and Reader in Structural Robustness at the University of Surrey, said:
"Using a model our team developed, we analysed what would happen if external factors like 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."
The team applied the model to real high-rise building designs, exploring what would happen if corner and side columns were suddenly removed.
Dr Sagaseta said:
"Reassuringly, our research showed the robustness of typical well-designed modern buildings in non-seismic areas. 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."
Karl Micallef, one of the paper's co-authors and Associate Principal (Structural Engineer) at SOM, said:
"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. 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."
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 is 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.
The study has been published in the journal Structures.
###
Notes to editors
Dr Juan Sagaseta is available for interview upon request.
For more information, please contact the University of Surrey's press office via mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk
END
Robustness of the world's skyscrapers stress-tested by Surrey model
2023-08-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Inequities in cardiovascular care are putting older female’s heart health at risk
2023-08-30
Toronto, ON, August 30, 2023 – Higher stroke risk among females with atrial fibrillation may be related to sex-based disparities in cardiovascular care, according to a new study from Women’s College Hospital, the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) at University Health Network (UHN) and ICES.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common type of irregular heart rhythm that is associated with a higher risk of stroke—after the age of 40, one in four strokes are caused by AF. Previous studies have found that female sex (assigned at birth) is a risk factor for AF-associated stroke. Recent research suggested that ...
Surprising study results: Students are bored during exams
2023-08-30
In the case of boredom, we think of many situations in life but intuitively not of exams. However, an international team of academics led by Thomas Götz from the University of Vienna has now studied exactly this phenomenon of test boredom for the first time and found remarkable results. According to the study, school students are actually very bored during exams. The study also showed that utter boredom has a negative effect on exam results. The research results have been published recently in the Journal of Educational Psychology.
Although boredom is currently a very intensively studied phenomenon, test boredom has so far been completely ignored ...
Study reveals important associations between gut microbiome and eczema in infancy
2023-08-30
Washington, D.C. – A new study has revealed important associations between the gut microbiome and eczema in infancy and has established the basis for the potential prevention and treatment of eczema via modulation of the gut microbiota. The study was published in mSystems, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
“The problem of eczema is increasing, and our study shows it could be a result of unwanted changes in the gut bacterial content. The first year of life could be a critical period to restore the gut bacteria to a more desirable composition,” said the study’s principal investigator ...
Adapting Ritalin® to tackle cocaine abuse
2023-08-30
Cocaine use continues to be a public health problem, yet despite concerted efforts, no drugs have been approved to resolve cocaine addiction. Research suggests that the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin®) could serve as a cocaine-replacement therapy, but clinical results have been mixed. Although several labs have produced MPH derivatives for testing, parts of the molecule remained chemically inaccessible. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have cleared that hurdle.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 million Americans ...
A new way to capture and recycle carbon dioxide from industrial emissions
2023-08-30
Carbon capture is a promising method to help slow climate change. With this approach, carbon dioxide (CO2) is trapped before it escapes into the atmosphere, but the process requires a large amount of energy and equipment. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have designed a capture system using an electrochemical cell that can easily grab and release CO2. The device operates at room temperature and requires less energy than conventional, amine-based carbon-capture systems.
Many industries are turning ...
Nuclear weapons tests are unappreciated source of radioactivity in German wild boars
2023-08-30
Shaggy-haired, tusked pigs roam free in the woods of Germany and Austria. Although these game animals look fine, some contain radioactive cesium at levels that render their meat unsafe to eat. Previously, scientists hypothesized that the contamination stemmed from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. But now, researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology report that nuclear weapon fallout from 60 to 80 years ago also contributes significantly to the wild boars’ persistent radioactivity.
Radioactive cesium, a byproduct of nuclear weapons explosions and nuclear ...
ESO telescopes help unravel pulsar puzzle
2023-08-30
With a remarkable observational campaign that involved 12 telescopes both on the ground and in space, including three European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, astronomers have uncovered the strange behaviour of a pulsar, a super-fast-spinning dead star. This mysterious object is known to switch between two brightness modes almost constantly, something that until now has been an enigma. But astronomers have now found that sudden ejections of matter from the pulsar over very short periods are responsible for the peculiar switches.
“We have witnessed extraordinary cosmic events where enormous amounts of matter, similar to cosmic cannonballs, are launched into ...
Novel chemosensor-based method for rapid detection of bacterial toxin
2023-08-30
The COVID-19 pandemic made it very clear that we need better methods to quickly screen for dangerous pathogens and substances. One such compound that regularly flies under the radar is lipopolysaccharide (LPS), largely known as "endotoxins." This molecule, which is found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, can be very harmful to humans. It can trigger a major immune response, producing fever and inflammation. In the worst cases, it can cause organ failure due to sepsis.
Surprisingly, for such a ubiquitously present toxin, there are very few ways to effectively detect the presence of LPS. The gold standard for its detection is the limulus amebocyte ...
How a mere 12% of Americans eat half the nation’s beef, creating significant health and environmental impacts
2023-08-30
A new study has found that 12% of Americans are responsible for eating half of all beef consumed on a given day, a finding that may help consumer groups and government agencies craft educational messaging around the negative health and environmental impacts of beef consumption.
Those 12% – most likely to be men or people between the ages of 50 and 65 – eat what researchers called a disproportionate amount of beef on a given day, a distinction based on the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which suggest 4 ounces per day of meat, poultry, and eggs combined for those consuming 2200 ...
New research establishes enduring connection between racial segregation, childhood blood lead levels
2023-08-30
Living in a racially segregated neighborhood puts Black children at a higher risk of having elevated blood lead levels, and this association has persisted over more than two decades, according to new research from the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative, which is led by University of Illinois Chicago Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda.
The study, published in Pediatrics, analyzed data from the early 1990s and from 2015 from blood lead level tests of more than 320,000 children younger than 7 in North Carolina. Researchers ...