Tube-in-Tube Structures

The tubular framing system mobilizes every column in the exterior wall in resisting over-turning and shearing forces. The term‘tube-in-tube’is largely self-explanatory in that a second ring of columns, the ring surrounding the central service core of the building, is used as an inner framed or braced tube. The purpose of the second tube is to increase resistance to over turning and to increase lateral stiffness. The tubes need not be of the same character; that is, one tube could be framed, while the other could be braced.

In considering this system, is important to understand clearly the difference between the shear and the flexural components of deflection, the terms being taken from beam analogy. In a framed tube, the shear component of deflection is associated with the bending deformation of columns and girders (i.e, the webs of the framed tube) while the flexural component is associated with the axial shortening and lengthening of columns (i.e, the flanges of the framed tube). In a braced tube, the shear component of deflection is associated with the axial deformation of diagonals while the flexural component of deflection is associated with the axial shortening and lengthening of columns.

Following beam analogy, if plane surfaces remain plane (i.e, the floor slabs),then axial stresses in the columns of the outer tube, being farther form the neutral axis, will be substantially larger than the axial stresses in the inner tube. However, in the tube-in-tube design, when optimized, the axial stresses in the inner ring of columns may be as high, or even higher, than the axial stresses in the outer ring. This seeming anomaly is associated with differences in the shearing component of stiffness between the two systems. This is easiest to under-stand where the inner tube is conceived as a braced (i.e, shear-stiff) tube while the outer tube is conceived as a framed (i.e, shear-flexible) tube.

Core Interactive Structures

Core interactive structures are a special case of a tube-in-tube wherein the two tubes are coupled together with some form of three-dimensional space frame. Indeed, the system is used often wherein the shear stiffness of the outer tube is zero. The United States Steel Building, Pittsburgh, illustrates the system very well. Here, the inner tube is a braced frame, the outer tube has no shear stiffness, and the two systems are coupled if they were considered as systems passing in a straight line from the “hat” structure. Note that the exterior columns would be improperly modeled if they were considered as systems passing in a straight line from the “hat” to the foundations; these columns are perhaps 15% stiffer as they follow the elastic curve of the braced core. Note also that the axial forces associated with the lateral forces in the inner columns change from tension to compression over the height of the tube, with the inflection point at about                    5/8 of the height of the tube. The outer columns, of course, carry the same axial force under lateral load for the full height of the columns because the columns because the shear stiffness of the system is close to zero.

  The space structures of outrigger girders or trusses, that connect the inner tube to the outer tube, are located often at several levels in the building. The AT&T headquarters is an example of an astonishing array of interactive elements:

1. The structural system is 94 ft  (28.6m) wide, 196ft(59.7m) long, and 601ft (183.3m) high.

2. Two inner tubes are provided, each 31ft(9.4m) by 40 ft (12.2m), centered 90 ft (27.4m) apart in the long direction of the building.

3. The inner tubes are braced in the short direction, but with zero shear stiffness in the long direction.

4.