Optimized use of the outrigger system to stiffen the coupled shear walls in tall buildings

Based on the conventional yet accurate continuum approach, a general analysis is presented for a pair of coupled shear walls, stiffened by an outrigger and a heavy beam in an arbitrary position on the height. Subsequently, a parametric study is presented to investigate the behavior of the structure. The optimum location of the outrigger and the parameters affecting its position were also investigated. The results showed that the behavior of the structure can be significantly influenced by the location of the outrigger. It was also indicated that in most ordinary cases the best location of the structure to minimize top drift is somewhere between 0.4 to 0.6 of the height of the structure. Though this method is not a substitute for the finite element method, it gives an initial simple solution to determine the size and position of outrigger, stiffening beam and coupled shear walls in the preliminary design stages. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.