Early Design Heuristics For Medical Building Projects Framed In Structural Steel
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Kashoob, Amrou
- Area of Honors:
- Architectural Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Architectural Engineering
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Ryan Levi Solnosky, Thesis Supervisor
Richard Mistrick, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Heuristic sizing guides
Structural steel
Healthcare buildings
Structural optimization
Healthcare facility design
Heuristic sizing guides
Healthcare facility design
Structural optimization - Abstract:
- This thesis focuses on developing heuristic sizing guides for structural steel in healthcare buildings to enhance early design efficiency and decision-making processes. Recognizing the critical nature of healthcare facilities, the study seeks to identify design patterns and structural requirements through a quantitative analysis of gravity systems layouts and steel member sizes. Data was collected from 31 healthcare facilities in the northeastern United States, ensuring consistency in load and code profiles. The research employed a quantitative methodology, utilizing linear regression analysis and validation against AISC and Vulcraft design tables to ensure accuracy and reliability. Key findings reveal significant variability in structural dimensions, leading to the development of new heuristic sizing guides. These guides provide practical insights into the early stages of structural design, ensuring that the selected member sizes meet performance requirements and practical constraints. Validation against existing standards confirmed the robustness of the proposed heuristics, underscoring their potential to improve the efficiency and integrity of healthcare facility design. Future research should expand the dataset and refine the heuristics to encompass various healthcare facility designs. This will ensure the guides remain adaptable and applicable across diverse architectural and structural designs.