BUILDING SYSTEM FOR SKYSCRAPERS

Abstract

A building system for skyscrapers includes a plurality of first building stories, a second building story located above the first building stories, and a plurality of third building stories located above the second building story. The second building story has a plurality of horizontal steel beams, a plurality of first vertical steel columns and a plurality of second vertical steel columns. The first vertical steel columns are located at a remote end of a lateral side of the building system, while the second vertical steel columns are located at a near end thereof. The fire resistance of the first vertical steel columns is superior to that of the second vertical steel column. Thus, while the building system is in a fire, the second vertical steel column would be affected more by the fire to reduce the vertical support thereupon than the first vertical steel column does.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a building system for skyscrapers, and more particularly to the building system that is relevantly applied to improve the specific skyscrapers that are vulnerable to meet a catastrophe building failure in a fire.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As the prospect in the building technology and the growing of the metropolis population, the skyscraper becomes a trend for the modern urban design. Currently, the main structure for the skyscrapers is mostly the steel structure. By compared to the reinforced concrete (RC) structure, the steel structure has advantages in better strength, light weight, saving work, stable quality and so on. Yet, a remarkable shortcoming for the steel structure is its poor heat tolerance. As long as a skyscraper happens to a fire or any kind of terrorist attacks, the fire engine is hard to reach, and also the internal steel structure is vulnerable to be heated to be soft and faces a high possibility of vertical catastrophe collapse. Hence, for the designer of the skyscrapers, the demand in fire-fighting and heat tolerance is much more important than that in capacity for bearing and for acting against the external forcing.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional building system for skyscrapers is shown, in which the building system 100 includes a plurality of building stories 101. For concise detailing, only portion of the building stories 101 of the building system 100 are shown in FIG. 1. As shown, in each of the building stories 101, a plurality of horizontal steel beams 102 and a plurality of vertical steel columns 103 are included. In addition, a floor 104 is introduced to separate every two building stories 101. In the art, for enhancing the fire-fighting ability and the heat tolerance of the building system, it is normally to coat refractory materials onto the steel beams 102 and the steel columns 103. Further, to limit the fire in a specific region of the building story, the conventional building system 100 would define some floors to be the fire-fighting floors 104a. For example, in Taiwan Patent No.096135035, a design of the fire-fighting floor is disclosed to control the fire and the high temperature in the building story upper to the fire-fighting floor 104a, such that the fire and the high temperature won't propagate downward so as thereby to provide an opportunity for people under the fire-fighting floor 104a to escape.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a thermal collapse of the building system for skyscrapers of FIG. 1 is demonstrated. In this figure, the fire is assumed to occur in a building story of the skyscrapers. Though the skyscraper has a fire-fighting floor 104a to avoid the propagation of the fire and the heat, yet the mass weight of the skyscraper upper to the fire-fighting floor 104a is still big and thus any collapse or falling down from the upper building stories would act as an additional impulse (arrows of FIG. 2) to hit fire-fighting floor 104a and to destroy the structure of the fire-fighting floor 104a. Such a situation would not only fail the fire-fighting function of the fire-fighting floor 104a, but also leaves a way for the fire and the heat to propagate downward. Extremely, a catastrophe collapse like the 911 tragedy would happen to the building system 100 so to vanish the escape opportunity of people under the fire-fighting floor 104a.

Hence, it is worthy to provide a solution for improving the conventional building system so as to alleviate the impact of the upper collapse at the lower fire-fighting floor and thus to protect people from facing a tragedy like 911 terrorist attack.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a building system for skyscrapers, in which, when the building system for skyscrapers meets a fire, the building stories upper to the fire would only slide laterally, if there is any, to the building system, such that the aforesaid collapse impulse of the upper floors won't cause direct damages to the lower floors.

In the present invention, the building system for skyscrapers includes a plurality of first building stories, a second building story and a plurality of third building stories. The second building story is located above the first building stories, and the third building stories are located above the second building story. Each of any of the building stories has a plurality of horizontal steel beams and a plurality of vertical steel columns. In particular, the vertical steel columns of the second building story is classified into a plurality of first vertical steel columns and a plurality of second vertical steel columns, in which the first vertical steel columns are located at a remote end of the lateral side of the building system, while the second vertical steel columns are located at a near end of the lateral side. Also, the fire resistance of the first vertical steel column is superior to that of the second vertical steel column. Upon such an arrangement, while the building system meets a fire and the fire is propagated to the second building story, the vertical support strength of the second vertical steel column is reduced by the fire at a degree more than the reduction in the vertical support strength of the first vertical steel column, so that the vertical support of the second building story at the near end of the lateral side is less than that thereof at the remote end of the lateral side. Further, the plurality of building stories including the plurality of third building stories above the fire would be slid to collapse at the lateral side of the building system. Namely, no vertical impulse to destroy the whole building system exist anymore, and thus people on the lower floors can have sufficient time to escape. In addition, hopefully, the building stories under the second building story can survive in the fire.

To ensure the fire resistance of the first vertical steel column of the second building story is larger than that of the second vertical steel column, while the architect design the first vertical steel column and the second vertical steel column, the same steel material can be adopted, but the first vertical steel column is particularly coated by a fire-proof inorganic nonmetallic material. In the present invention, the qualified inorganic nonmetallic material can be concrete, asbestos or ceramics. Material properties for the foregoing inorganic nonmetallic material can be found in any ordinary handbook for building materials.

Further, while in designing the building system for skyscrapers in accordance with the present invention, the vertical steel columns of the first building stories, the second building story and the third building stories are arranged in a correlated pattern so that corresponding vertical columns at neighboring stories can be axially engaged so as beneficially to the construction and the strength of the building. For engagement of two vertical steel columns, each of the vertical steel columns has an upper surface having an engagement groove and a lower surface having an engagement protrusion. With the engagement protrusion at the lower surface of the vertical steel column to plug and thus engage the engagement groove at the upper surface of another vertical steel column located beneath, the vertical steel columns of each the building story are arranged in the correlated pattern with respect to the neighboring story so that corresponding vertical columns at the neighboring stories can be axially engaged so as beneficially to the construction and the strength of the whole building. Further, a layer of an inorganic nonmetallic material served for a heat-isolation purpose can be sandwiched between the engagement protrusion and the engagement groove. In addition, between any two neighboring building stories, a floor is included to separate the space of the two neighboring building stories.

All these objects are achieved by the building system for skyscrapers described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be specified with reference to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional building system;

FIG. 2 demonstrates a thermal collapse of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a skyscraper applying a building system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the building system for skyscrapers in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 along line C-C′;

FIG. 6 demonstrates a lateral-side collapse of the building system in accordance with the present invention under a extreme-high temperature state; and

FIG. 7 shows schematically the engagement of a first vertical steel column of the second building story and a vertical steel column of the first building story located under the second building story in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention disclosed herein is directed to a building system for skyscrapers. In the following description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that variations of these specific details are possible while still achieving the results of the present invention. In other instance, well-known components are not described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

For the steel structure has advantages in light weight, better strength, labor saving and so on, the main structure of the building system for the skyscrapers is mostly to adopt the steel structure. However, due to the inherent poor fire resistance, while in meeting a fire, the strength of the steel structure would be dropped rapidly. With the weight of the building stories over the fired building story to make worse the loading upon the fired building story, the building system of the steel-structured skyscraper would face a crisis of vertical catastrophe collapse.

In order to avoid massive loss of lives and properties due to vertical catastrophe collapse in a skyscraper's fire, the building system for skyscrapers in accordance with the present invention applies a discrete design criterion upon fire resistances of a plurality of vertical steel columns in a specific building story of the skyscraper so as to have the specific building story opt to slide aside, not to collapse vertically, while in meeting a major fire above the specific building story, such that the loss in lives and properties under the floor of the specific building story can be reduced to a minimum.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic view of a skyscraper applying a building system in accordance with the present invention is shown. Generally speaking, for the structural safety and the design convenience to the building system, the building site is preferred to be a square or symmetric area. Hence, an ordinary building system usually has a plurality of lateral sides. In the present invention, the building system 300 includes a plurality of first building stories 301, a second building story 302, a plurality of third building stories 303 and a lateral side 500, in which the second building story 302 is located above all the first building stories 301 and under all the third building stories 303. In order to simplify the description of the present invention, FIG. 3 only demonstrates a single building story of the first building stories 301 and also a single building story of the third building story 303.

Refer now to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in which FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the building system for skyscrapers in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 along line C-C′. In each of the first building stories 301 and the third building stories 303, a plurality of horizontal steel beams 3011, 3031 and a plurality of vertical steel columns 3012, 3032 are included, in which the vertical steel columns 3012, 3032 have the same fire resistance. Though the second building story 302 has also a plurality of horizontal steel beams 3021 and a plurality of vertical steel columns, yet these vertical steel columns are classified into a group of a plurality of first vertical steel columns 3023 and another group of a plurality of second vertical steel columns 3025. In particular, the first vertical steel columns 3023 are located at a remote end of the lateral side 500 of the building system, while the second vertical steel columns 3025 are located at a near end of the lateral side 500. Further, the fire resistance of each of the first vertical steel columns 3023 is superior to that of each of the second vertical steel columns 3025. It is noted that the decision of the lateral side 500 is an architect choice and can be any lateral side of the building system 300. Importantly, it shall be emphasized that, in the whole building system 300, only the vertical steel columns 3023, 3025 of the second building story 302 are to have different fire resistances, but the fire resistances for the vertical steel columns 3012, 3032 of the first and the third building stories 301, 303 are the same.

Referring back to FIG.4, when a third building story 303 of the building system 300 is in a fire and the fire propagates to the second building story 302, then for the fire resistance of the second vertical steel column 3025 is inferior to that of the first vertical steel column 3023, hence the second vertical steel columns 3025 would suffer from a major loss in vertical support strength due to the fire by compared to the first vertical steel columns 3023. Thus, the vertical support provided by the second building story 302 at the near end of the lateral side 500 would be weaker than that at the remote end of the lateral side 500. Further, by adding the weight of the third building stories 303 above the second building story 302, the second building story 302 as well as the third building stories 303 located above would be collapsed in a manner of sliding to the lateral side 500, as shown in FIG. 6. Obviously, in this embodiment of the present invention, the floor 401 would be less hammered by the gravity weight of the upper structures, the building stories under the floor 401 would be less damaged, and thereby people under the floor 401 can gain time to escape, such that the conventional tragedy of vertical catastrophe collapse can be avoided.

Though the building system for skyscrapers of the present invention discloses only the foregoing embodiment having a single second building story, yet in practice a plurality of discrete second building stories can be included so as to divide the skyscraper into several fire damage-control sections. Such an application is definitely not beyond the teaching and embodying of the present invention.

To ensure the fire resistance of the first vertical steel columns 3023 of the second building story 302 is larger than that of the second vertical steel column 3025 thereof, the architect may apply the same material to the first vertical steel columns 3023 and the second vertical steel columns 3025, but coat each of the first vertical steel columns 3023 by an inorganic nonmetallic material 600 with a significant fire resistance, such as concrete, asbestos, ceramics or any refractory material the like. Material properties of the aforesaid materials can be found in most of handbooks for building materials, and thus the architect can easily determine the specific material to meet his/her demand. Typically, the vertical steel column coated with a satisfied refractory material would have a fire resistance up to 1,500° C., while the uncoated vertical steel column may face a major thermal degrading (distortion for example) leading to a significant reduction in the vertical support at about 750° C.

While in designing the building system for skyscrapers in accordance with the present invention, the vertical steel columns for the first building stories, the second building story and the third building stories are arranged in the predetermined correlated pattern so that corresponding vertical columns at neighboring stories can be axially engaged so as beneficially to the construction and the strength of the building. Namely, the corresponding vertical steel columns can axially engage vertically with each other so as to erect an extending integrated column for conveying the vertical supports of the building. In the present invention, each of the vertical steel columns of any building story has an upper surface and a lower surface. The upper surface further has an engagement groove, while the lower surface has an engagement protrusion. With the engagement protrusion of an upper vertical steel column to plug and thus engage the corresponding engagement groove of the lower vertical steel column at the lower building story, the interchangeable purpose among the vertical steel columns can be achieved. In addition, in the present invention, a floor is introduced to separate the space of any two neighboring building stories.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the engagement of a first vertical steel column 3023 of the second building story 302 and a vertical steel column 3012 of the first building story 301 located under the second building story 302 in accordance with the present invention is shown. As illustrated, the engagement protrusion 30231 at the lower end of the first vertical steel column 3023 is to mate the engagement groove 30122 at the upper end of the vertical steel column 3012 of the first building story 301, such that the vertical steel columns 3012, 3023 of these two neighboring building stories 301, 302 can prevail the predetermined correlated pattern for arranging the vertical steel columns throughout the piling building stories in accordance with the present invention. Further, a layer of an inorganic nonmetallic material 700 is located between the engagement groove 30122 and the engagement protrusion 30231, in which the inorganic nonmetallic material can be one of concrete, asbestos, ceramics and any relevant refractory material. In addition, the floor 401 is introduced to separate the space of the two neighboring building stories 301, 302.

In accordance with the present invention, as long as the fire propagates downward to the second building story, the difference in fire resistances between the first vertical steel column and the second vertical steel column fire resistance would lead to a slide of upper structure aside to the lateral side, and no more vertical collapse can be met. In addition, the inorganic nonmetallic material between the engagement protrusion of the upper vertical steel column and the engagement groove of the lower vertical steel column would relevantly cut the pathway of the heat from the upper building story to the lower building story, such that the fire is hard to propagate downward. Accordingly, people under the fired building story can gain sufficient time to escape, the integrity of the lower building stories can be better ensured, and loss in lives and properties from the fire can be reduced to a minimum.

Further, if pools, gardens, or other empty space exist in the surrounding environment of the building system, the lateral side of the building system for the aforesaid sliding collapse is preferably defined at the side of such kinds of empty space, so that the sliding for protecting the building system in a terrible fire can be directed to the neighboring empty space and thus the loss in lives and properties can be substantially reduced.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A building system for skyscrapers, having a lateral side, comprising: a plurality of first building stories, each of the plurality of first building stories having individually a plurality of horizontal steel beams and a plurality of vertical steel columns;a second building story, located above the plurality of first building stories, having a plurality of horizontal steel beams, a plurality of first vertical steel columns and a plurality of second vertical steel columns, the plurality of first vertical steel columns being located at a remote end of the lateral side, the plurality of second vertical steel columns being located at a near end of the lateral side, a fire resistance of each of the plurality of first vertical steel columns being superior to that of each of the plurality of second vertical steel columns; anda plurality of third building stories, located above the second building story, each of the plurality of third building stories having individually a plurality of horizontal steel beams and a plurality of vertical steel columns;wherein, for the fire resistance of each of the plurality of first vertical steel columns is superior to that of each of the plurality of second vertical steel columns, thus in the case of a fire in the building system, vertical support strength of the plurality of second vertical steel columns is reduced more by the fire by compared to that of the plurality first vertical steel columns, so as to make vertical support strength of the second building story at the near end of the lateral side less than that thereof at the remote end of the lateral side.

2. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of first vertical steel columns is coated by a layer of an inorganic nonmetallic material.

3. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 2, wherein the inorganic nonmetallic material is one of concrete, asbestos and ceramics.

4. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 2, wherein the inorganic nonmetallic material has a fire resistance up to 1,500° C.

5. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vertical steel columns of each of the plurality of first building stories, the plurality of first and second vertical steel columns of the second building story, and the plurality of vertical steel columns of each of the plurality of third building stories are arranged in a predetermined correlated pattern so that the corresponding vertical steel columns at the neighboring stories are axially engaged so as beneficially to construction and strength of the building system.

6. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 5, wherein any of the vertical steel columns of any of the building stories has an upper surface including an engagement groove and a lower surface including an engagement protrusion, the protrusion of one said vertical steel column being to plug into the engagement groove of another said vertical steel column located under the one said vertical steel column.

7. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 6, wherein a layer of an inorganic nonmetallic material is included to be located between the engagement groove and the engagement protrusion.

8. The building system for skyscrapers of claim 7, wherein every two of the neighboring building stories are separated by a floor.