Reverse Engineering of a Tall Building and Buckling Analysis of Its Peripheral Columns

On the basis of known geometry, loads, and materials but with incomplete design details, the structure of a certain tall building was recreated. The first phase was a series of hand calculations to initially estimate the necessary cross sections. Then, a global finite-element (FE) model of the building was constructed and subjected to gravity and wind forces. Of particular interest were the peripheral H-shaped columns located immediately inside the glass curtain. The detailed FE buckling models of those columns were created and subjected to moderately dynamic axial loading. The analyses were carried out for an average-sized column section, and its results are discussed here. Two types of models were used in the FE work, shell and solid models. Although the magnitude of the buckling force was obviously set by the design requirements, the postbuckling characteristic was of interest, because it could play a role under some extreme loading conditions. The properties of the column material, namely, high static strength and low ductility, had a decisive influence on the postbuckling resistance.