Beam Design and Structural Design in Commercial and High-Rise Buildings

Beam design and structural design in high-rise buildings is constantly evolving. Structural designs are created to withstand earthquakes and high winds, conform to building codes, and construct impressive visual designs. Beam designs can significantly affect the stability of a high-rise building as well as the aesthetic appeal of a structure.

The structural design of a high-rise building is greatly dependent upon lateral loads. For this reason, bean design in high-rise buildings deserves careful consideration. Specially designed internal support system help keep the structure stable, especially in high wind and during earthquake tremors.

The column module in StruCalc is set up to design most posts in residential or light commercial projects.  The program first asks the user to specify the type of column to be designed. There are five different types of materials available in the column module:

• solid sawn
• glulam
• structural composite
• steel
• tube steel

Each of these materials then has selections from the current National Design Specification in use for species, grade, width and depth.

Within the column module of StruCalc there is the ability to calculate a cantilevered column. 

The column module typically assumes a pin-pin connection for the end supports, but the end condition can be changed to a cantilever inside the module.  Once a cantilever has been designated by selecting the Cantilever Column checkbox the Column End Condition or K(e) value will change from 1 to 2.1 and the top of the column will then be unrestrained.

This is particularly useful for posts that are supporting lateral loads of some kind such as:

• pole barn supports
• car port supports