Ryan L. Solnosky
Structural Option
UMCP Dorm Building 7
College Park, Maryland

 

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 User Note: "While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐in‐progress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Ryan L. Solnosky. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design.”  


 
 

Thesis Proposal

The final goal of this thesis proposal will be to incorporate the following three structural studies:

  1. Redesign the gravity system to a composite structural steel system with castellated beams
  2. Redeisgn and optimize the lateral system with a determined and acceptable lateral system for a seismic zone while minimizing the amount of frames
  3. An alternative lateral system composed of shear walls

The main intent is to investigate a change in the structural system from the existing proporiety system to a more convential steel structural system

To download the Executive Summary and Breadth Proposal, click here (PDF Version).

To download a complete version of the Thesis Proposal, click here (PDF Version).

Updated Proposals

To download the updated Executive Summary and Breadth Proposal, click here (PDF Version).

To download a complete version of the updated Thesis Proposal, click here (PDF Version).

Breadth Studies

Following the main structural depth study, a minimum of two breadth studies will also be performed for this proposal. These studies are chosen for they have a correlation to the structural depth change and also towards the goal of making Building 7 a LEED rated building, a gold rating preferred by the owner.

The first breath topic will look at a green roof added to the top of Building 7 this was one LEED/green design option the owner and architect avoided due to cost reasons. Green roofs have benefits with being able to recycle the water runoff and be used throughout the building. For this proposal different green roof will be looked and the best choice will be picked. Waterproofing issues, weight issues, and the collection tanks with the piping will be designed for this breath.

The second breath topic will be to look at a single apartment/dorm room and will study the impact of the change in structural material to steel to see if sound isolation is an issue. If sound isolation is a problem then the walls and floors will be designed to prevent as much of the noise as possible from being transmitted from one area to another. If sound isolation is not an issue a higher standard from the minimal will be used/designed since the building is a dorm and the noise environment tends to be quite loud at times. This can be looked at mechanical duct isolators, resilient channels on the walls, etc.

Graduate Course Integration

 When looking at the lateral system in RAM advanced modeling techniques will be used to gain more accurate results and also the use of permitted analytical procedures of the applicable building codes. The models either use rigid or semi-rigid diaphragms. The steel plate shear walls will be modeled with area elements.  All area and line elements shall account for flexural, shear, and axial deformations along with stiffness property modifiers defined in the steel code and ASCE 7 code. The contribution of panel zone deformations to overall story drift will be checked. Finally the lateral force analysis will consider inherent torsion, accidental torsion, and P-Delta effects. 


Steel Connections will also be addressed in the redesign. The primary focus will be on the chosen lateral system connections which are typical in its layout. While investigating the gravity system beam and girder sizes will be chosen such that simple and constructible connections are able to be used.

 

       
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This page was last updated on October 24, 2008, by Ryan L. Solnosky and is hosted by the Architectural Engineering Department © 2009