Architectural Engineering Commons^™

The Institute’S Team For Damage Investigations, Lucas A. Laughery, Aishwarya Y. Puranam, Christopher L. Segura Jr., Anahid A. Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

ACI Committee 133, Disaster Reconnaissance, was conceived in the aftermath of the 2010 Chilean Earthquake, an event that affected thousands of structures. That event caused extensive damage to an estimated 50 to 100 mid-rise and high-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, including seven that were damaged beyond repair.^1-3 Although ACI has had a strong history of publishing assessments of disasters (refer to textbox: Historical Disasters Examined in ACI Publications), the Institute had no formal mechanism in place to deploy a team to investigate and report on critical lessons to its technical committees and membership. Furthermore, the broadening international reach of …

Tanzanian Concrete Masonry Walls, Edward J. Kaminski

Architectural Engineering

Walls that replicate masonry walls used in Tanzania are constructed and tested. The results from testing was compared with the respective predictions made using code guidelines from ASCE 7 and TMS 402.

Guidelines For Implementing Modem: An Open-Source, Matlab-Based Digital Image Correlation Software, Ryan Schwartz

Architectural Engineering

MODEM is an open-source, MATLAB-based digital image correlation (DIC) program that was developed at the University of Auckland for small-scale testing of flexible materials. Structural engineering researchers at both the University of Auckland and Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo wanted to expand the uses of the program to study the seismic response of large-scale test specimens. This guide document describes how to implement DIC using MODEM, including the hardware and software needed to run an experiment as well as data collection and post-processing procedures for the program. Additionally, this document includes a case study focusing on a DIC test …

Geo-Spatial Analysis Of Reinforced Concrete Building Damage In 2017 Mexico Earthquake, N. Slavin, A. Bravo, A. Datta, Anahid A. Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

This paper summarizes analyses of structural damage to reinforced concrete buildings seen after the 2017 Mexico City earthquake. With respect to the 2017 earthquake, the authors are part of a multi-institution National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID effort that involved several in-field data collection missions yielding a dataset with detailed metadata for nearly 120 buildings. This data has been analyzed in conjunction with a high-density data set of around 1400 buildings from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The focus of analyses includes identifying correlations between building attributes (age, height, column ratio, design vulnerabilities, etc.) and site attributes (soil zone …

Assessment Of Modeling Strategies For Lightly Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls, J. Williams, T. Doan, P. Laursen, Anahid A. Behrouzi

Architectural Engineering

element detailing, which suggest they are susceptible to brittle, compression-controlled failure modes, and deemed deficient by industry practitioners. Researchers at the California Polytechnic State University [1], San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), recently tested a slender RC wall with vertical and horizontal reinforcement ratios approaching ACI 318-14 [2] code minimum (ρl= ρh= 0.37%) and no boundary elements. Results from this wall test will be presented and contrasted with a set of lightly reinforced walls, specimens C1-C3 tested by Lu et al. [3] at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, with higher levels of reinforcement (ρl= 0.53%). This paper will examine the …

Observations About The Seismic Response Of Rc Buildings In Mexico City, Sergio Alcocer, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Sergio Brena, Kenneth J. Elwood, Ayhan Irfanoglu, Michael Kreger, Rémy Lequesne, Gilberto Mosqueda, Santiago Pujol, Aishwarya Puranam, Mario Rodriguez, Prateek Shah, Andreas Stavridis, Richard Wood

Architectural Engineering

Over 2000 buildings were surveyed by members of the Colegio de Ingenieros (CICM) and Sociedad Mexicana de Ingenieria Estructural (SMIE) in Mexico City following the Puebla-Morelos Earthquake of 2017. This inventory of surveyed buildings included nearly 40 collapses and over 600 buildings deemed to have structural damage. Correlation of damage with peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), predominant spectral period, building location, and building properties including height, estimated stiffness, and presence of walls or retrofits was investigated for the surveyed buildings. The evidence available suggests that (1) ground motion intensity (PGV) drove the occurrence of damage and (2) …

Investigation Of Modeling Strategies For Slender Lightly Reinforced Concrete Shear Walls, Jenna Marie Williams, Tracy Destiny Doan

Architectural Engineering: Graduate Reports

A large number of pre-1980’s non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) structures in California utilizing RC shear walls to resist seismic lateral forces have been identified as deficient by industry practitioners. These non-ductile wall systems are typically lightly reinforced and lack adequate boundary element detailing. Analytical studies suggest these walls are susceptible to brittle, compression-controlled failure modes due to damage from concrete crushing and bar buckling. Furthermore, poor behavior of lightly reinforced concrete walls was observed in many recent earthquakes, for example in Chile (1985), New Zealand (2010/2011) and Mexico (2017). This has generated concern among engineers in high seismic regions around …

Empowering Villages Community Center: Kilimbi, Rwanda, Serena J. Reeves

Architectural Engineering

In collaboration with Journeyman International and Empowering Villages this project includes the structural drawings and calculations for a community center located in a rural part of Kilimbi, Rwanda. The structural systems utilized include conventional wood framing, wood framed trusses, special concrete moment frames, special concrete cantilevered columns, conventional continuous foundations, pad footings and a slab on grade. The goal of this project is to promote a healthy community dynamic by providing spaces for assembly, social programs, skills training, and recreation. It includes classrooms, a library, and outdoor learning areas.

Implementing Bluebeam Software In Architectural Engineering Design Courses, Michael James Deigert, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Pamalee A. Brady

Architectural Engineering

A critical aspect of structural engineering education is helping students develop effective electronic graphical communication skills to convey their design solutions. Many undergraduate civil and architectural engineering programs address this at the document creation stage by teaching Autodesk AutoCAD or Revit to create 2-D or 3-D structural design files. However, students tend to have limited exposure to commercial software for document management and markup that allows for coordination between the engineer, architect, and contractor teams. Bluebeam Revu is one such software that has emerged as an industry standard for annotation and markup of engineering design documents.

Previous educational studies on …

Same Polytechnic College - Phase Zero, Amber Sutherland, Hester Lui, Nicole O'Connor

Architectural Engineering

The Same Polytechnic College, located in Same (Sah-may), Tanzania, is an on-going project that has been worked on by approximately 600 Cal Poly students over the past decade. The college is being designed for the Mbesese Initiative for Sustainable Development (MISD), a nonprofit organization working towards alleviating poverty in rural East Africa through the expansion of access to education. As an interdisciplinary team of architectural engineering, architecture, and landscape architecture students, the master plan of the college was refined and the design of “Phase Zero” was created as the first step towards the organization’s goal.

Analysis Of High Rise Structures, Elitsa P. Vutova

Architectural Engineering

The design of a high rise tower involves many moving parts and is best done in collaboration with all construction disciplines. This report examines the basic steps and principles followed and discovered along the collaborative design process between Architectural and Architectural Engineering students of two high rise building systems. The report will look at physical model tests and digital model analyses. It will also follow the design of two high rise towers proposed for San Francisco, CA: The Crystal and the HOODOO. The tower design includes a study of possible lateral loading systems, a dual core and outrigger system analysis …

Wine History Project Pavilion, Douglas Mcarthur

Architectural Engineering

The Wine History Pavilion Project is a continuing endeavor of Cal Poly students working on an exhibitive, traveling structure for the San Luis Obispo community. The project started during the 2019 Fall Quarter in the interdisciplinary Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Studio and has progressed to the detailed design stage for its eventual fabrication and installation. This report discusses the detailed design stage that 4th year Architectural Engineering student, Douglas McArthur, worked on.

Dynamic Analysis And Seismic Retrofit Of The Point Sur Lighthouse, Nicholas M. Dekker

Master's Theses

The Point Sur Lighthouse is an unreinforced stone masonry building completed in 1889 on the central coast of California. The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is still an active aid to navigation. The original first-order Fresnel lens was removed from the lantern room and placed in safekeeping due to its high risk of damage in the event of a strong earthquake. The lens has been approved to return to its original setting but the seismic performance of the building must first be assessed in order to ensure the safety of the lens and lighthouse, …

Vertical Veins: Digital Commons Reflection, Ryan J. Millward, Nicole L. O'Connor

Architectural Engineering

The SOM High Rise Studio was a collaboration between 3^rd year Architecture students and primarily 4^th year Architectural Engineering students. The studio consisted of 20 weeks, with consistent check points marked by SOM partner reviews. The overall aim of the collaboratory nature of the studio was to expose each discipline to the decision-making process of the other to better facilitate understanding of the overall system and narrative of the high-rise tower.

Each quarter had a distinct goal that was the focus of submittals and reviews. Winter Quarter was primarily focused on the form finding aspect of our design …

Folded! High-Rise, Alejandra Bravo, Riley Joseph Denis

Architectural Engineering

The authors of this report are undergraduate Architectural Engineering students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. This report documents their experience in an interdisciplinary studio of high‐rise building design and the process by which they produced a schematic design of a high‐rise residential building in San Francisco. It will address the organization of the studio, the development of concept as well as form and structure, the studies and structural analyses, as well as the review process and the competitions the final proposals were entered in, and include some final takeaways from each Architectural Engineering group member.

"Knotted Tubes" High Rise Residential Tower, Roman Lara Iv

Architectural Engineering

Knotted Tubes is an 800' residential tower designed by a team of two third year architecture students and one graduate architectural engineering student in the two-quarter high-rise design studio partnered with Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill LLP. The report documents it's design origins and narrative evolution throughout the studio's duration, as well as the design process and final iteration of the whole system, focusing on the structural system and tectonic integration.

Lilypaaaad - Structural Design, Katelyn Smith

Architectural Engineering

This report tells the story of the structural design process of the LilyPAAAAD tower. The highlights of this process include precedent studies, 2-D structural analysis studies, hand calculations, and drawings. Precedent studies gave insight into unknown possibilities and helped discover how other engineers achieved their design goals. Projects like Sendai Mediatheque and the HSBC Tower are innovative solutions to unique design criteria. 2-D structural studies revealed how the braced frame and outrigger systems worked. By changing member stiffness and studying the load path, the members that contributed the most to resisting the load could be identified. Hand calculations were essential …

Dodecahedron Housing Tower - Collaborative High Rise Design, Michael Ayers

Architectural Engineering

This Senior Project includes the integrated architectural and structural design of a 744'-0" tall housing tower located at the corner of Market St.& Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco, CA. The concept of this tower revolves around the tessellation of dodecahedron modules that provide the template for all structure and architectural elements within the building. The 20-week long course focused on the full development of this high rise building including its urban context, performative envelope, global structural performance as a tall building, foundation systems, and integration with architecture.

Analysis Of Burning Wood In The Transient State And The Application To Structural Design, Roberta Veliz, Kimberly Guzman

Architectural Engineering

Determining the extent of the contribution of exposed timber on compartment fire dynamics in open floor plans is a complex process. Designers traditionally used compartmentalization design methods which create spaces where flashover is likely, given the fuel load and ventilation conditions. However, due to the large geometric dimensions and spread of fuel, fires in open floor plans are more likely to remain as localized or traveling fires. As such, an understanding of not only ignition potential but also flame spread is critical to characterizing the contribution of exposed timber. An integral step in characterizing the potential contribution is through an …

The Aloe: High Rise Schematic Design And Analysis, Tony Duc Nguyen, Lilliann Lan Lai

Architectural Engineering

The authors of this document are architectural engineering (ARCE) undergraduate students from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). They joined the 2020 Skyscraper Collaboratory as part of the ARCE course 415: Interdisciplinary Capstone Project. This course emphasizes the analysis and evaluation of interdisciplinary challenges associated with integrating the design and construction processes to deliver a project with respect to the design, quality, and performance expectations for a client or presented criteria. The course was taught in collaboration with industry partners and associates from the global architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Instruction …

Piazza Di Ulivo: Arce Patio Redesign, Sophia Kim-Oanh Ha, David Colman

Architectural Engineering

Piazza de Ulivo was Phase 1 of a multi-quarter initiative to redesign and bring life to a patio space adjacent to Engineering West (Building 21) in Spring of 2020. Located within the central courtyard of Engineering West (Hasslein Garden), the patio space previously contained a senior project pergola that collapsed and has been removed. The remaining elements from this previous structure were an inverted moment frame consisting of five concrete columns and beams joining them. Additionally, a wooden bench with concrete pedestals remained under the shade of the existing olive tree. Desire within the Architectural Engineering (ARCE) department for the …

A Case Study On How Insulated Concrete Forms Can Prevent Structure Loss During Wildfires, Charles Myron Ackley

Construction Management

ICFs are a building material with unique thermal insulating and non-combustible properties that have shown great potential at protecting a structure during a wildfire. To prove the hypothesis that ICFs can effectively prevent structure damage or loss during a wildfire, an analytical case study on an ICF home that survived the Camp Fire was conducted. The goal was to understand how ICFs unique thermal insulating and non-combustible properties protect structures from wildfires and how this assembly system can be a lot more effective than a traditional frame structure. Additional objectives for the project included highlighting the growing threat of wildfires …

Construction Of The Slo Botanical Gardens Foot Bridge - Interdisciplinary Project, Connor N. Layman

Construction Management

In the Winter quarter of 2020, a project based senior project was sought out by a Cal Poly Construction Management student, and he was connected with the San Luis Obispo Botanical Gardens (SLO BG). SLO BG is a non-profit organization located on 150 acres in the El Chorro Regional Park. After meeting with the SLO BG staff and exploring their many needed projects, the student and the staff mutually concluded that he would build a bridge and accompanying stairs which resided on a well-traveled trail on the property. He successfully developed the project schedule, budget, recruited an architect for design …

The Project Management Of Investigating Dowel Laminated Timber, Sophia D. Looney, Bryan U. Garcia, Reiley A. Akkari

Architectural Engineering

During the Winter Quarter of 2020, three Architectural Engineering students investigated a new type of timber product, dowel laminated timber, for their senior project. Dowel laminated timber (DLT) is a specialty product typically associated with sustainable design and is a form of mass timber. The three students had little knowledge about mass timber outside of a timber design course; their knowledge was primarily in wood framing design. Therefore, the topic was chosen because dowel laminated timber is a topic that holds a large learning opportunity not only for the students but also for the profession. The purpose of the senior …

Blue Mountain Residence, Marin Kira Govett

Architectural Engineering

The Blue Mountain Residence is a new, single family residence located in Jefferson County, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. It is located close to the front range at an elevation of 7,600 ft. The owner and architect of the residence is Cherie Goff of HMH Architecture in Boulder, Colorado. The house is mostly of wood construction with elements of steel and concrete. The structural project team includes a Cal Poly architectural engineering student and professional engineers in DLK Engineering in Lafayette, CO. This report contains the complete project description, structural design calculations, and stamped structural construction drawings. The report examines …

Timber-Strong Design Build Competition, Anna Luehrs, Lilliann Lai, Dolores Herrera, John Leone

Architectural Engineering

The November 2019 Timber-Strong Design Build Competition, hosted by National Council of Structural Engineers Association (NCSEA), was developed by the American Wood Council (AWC), Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. (SST), and APA - The Engineered Wood Association (APA) to cultivate timber design, building, and sustainability experience for students. Participating students gained exposure to performance analysis, construction management, building practices, and project bid preparation while practicing as a design construction firm. In the process of this hands-on experience, students were expected to procure all building materials and tools themselves with some aid from sponsors. The goal of the competition was to provide …

Impact Of Bi-Directional Loading On The Seismic Performance Of C-Shaped Piers Of Core Walls, Anahid A. Behrouzi, Andrew W. Mock, Dawn E. Lehman, Laura N. Lowes, Daniel A. Kuchma

Architectural Engineering

Reinforced concrete structural walls are commonly used as the primary lateral load resisting system in modern buildings constructed in high seismic regions. Most walls in high-rise buildings are C-shaped to accommodate elevators or other architectural features. C-shaped walls have complex loading and response including: (1) symmetric response in the direction of the web, (2) asymmetric response in the direction of the flange and (3) high compression and shear demands when used as a pier in a coupled-wall configuration. A research study was conducted on C-shaped walls tested under (1) uni-directional and (2) bi-directional loading of an isolated walls and (3) …