WTC Towers : Innovative Design Features and Structural Modeling.
WTC Towers : Innovative Design Features and Structural
Modeling.
(126 K)
Lew, H. S.; Sadek, F.
TS 3-7-5 Fire Engineering (1);
Tall Buildings in Historical Cities: Culture and
Technology for Sustainable Cities. Volume 2.
Proceedings. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban
Habitat (CTBUH) 2004 Seoul Conference. October 10-13,
2004, Seoul, Korea, Lee, L. H.; Klemencic, R.; Kim, S.
D., Editor(s)(s), 1150-1153 pp, 2004.
Keywords:
high rise building; historic buildings; World Trade
Center; disasters; building collapse; structures; fire
safety; fire investigations; aircraft fires; injuries;
fire fatalities; fire protection; occupants; human
behavior; evacuation; building design; building
construction; maintenance; fire codes; structural
analysis; structural design; terrorism; terrorists
Abstract:
The National Institte of Standards and Technolgoy (NIST)
is undertaking the federal building and fire safety
investigation of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster.
The objectives of this investigation are to: (1)
determine why and how the World Trade Center Towers
collapsed following the initial impacts of the aircraft
and subsequent fires; (2) determine why the injuries and
fatalities were so high or low depending on location
including all technical aspects of fire protection,
occupant behavior, evacuation and emergency response;
(3) determine what procedures and practices were used in
the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of
the buildings; and (4) identify areas in current
building and fire codes, standards, and practicees that
warrant revision. This paper presents innovative
features that were incorporated in the design of the WTC
towers and how the towers are modeled for structural
analysis.
