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Modelling Analysis and Design of Multi-storey Helipad Park

Article · March 2017

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 International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 8, Issue 3, March-2017 1192
ISSN 2229-5518

Modelling Analysis and Design of Multi storey

Helipad Park
1
S.A. Raji; 2J.S. Abolarin; 3B.J. Ibitolu; 4B.A. Chabi

Abstract— With the increase in the number of road users and the need to transport personnel and goods to places of interest with
convenience, alternative mode like the air transportation with no traffic and ease of its parking space features in commercial areas has
been put forth in this paper. A Helipad park located on the top of a storey building would help to access a place of importance or a location
with streams of people converging to it at the same time and with the same road network. This paper is aims to model, analyse and design
a multi-storey helipad park. To achieve this aim, the results of two software applications were compared with the manual design. Autodesk
Robot and CSI ETABS were the applications used. The building has a storey height of 3 metres with 4 floors and the helipad slab deck.
The building was then subjected to both gravity and wind load for analysis. The result of a critical beam on the helipad deck was then
compared using both the software applications and manual design. The maximum bending moment (Support) for the beam using the
Robot Structural analysis software was found to be 305.66 kNm while that gotten from manual analysis was found to be 327.58 kNm. Also,
the maximum shear force for selected beam using Robot software was found to be 362.73KN while that from manual analysis was found to
be 390.48KN.

Index Terms—Autodesk Robot, CSI ETABS, Helipad, Manual design

—————————— u ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION

IJSER
All developed countries have a common focus of actualiz- A heliport substantially smaller than airport providing
ing a high infrastructural facility. Infrastructures like suspend- comparable services. The main Element of designing heliport
ed bridges, multi-storey buildings, roads, power plants, air- is the landing area of helicopter which is called the helipad.
ports and helipad have helped to boost the economy of devel- The location of helipad can be near town to pick up patient
oped countries and ease the living conditions of its residents. during accident or at the top of some elevated structure. The
The continuous rapid growth in the world’s population has touchdown and lift off area is Called (TLOF), the final ap-
brought about a continual increase in the number of road us- proach and take-off is called (FATO). A load - bearing, gener-
ers resulting in congestions on the traffic. Asoka et al. [1] ob- ally paved area normally located in the centre of (TLOF).
served that the population of urban residents has increased
from about 30% to about 47% in 2000 and that in African coun-
tries, about 28% lived in the city a of 1980 while in 2006, the
population has increased to 37%. This has brought about an
intense land use which calls for maximization of infrastructur-
al facilities. Prud’homme [2] classified infrastructures into
transportation, water supply, water disposal, irrigation, gar-
bage disposal, district heating, telecommunication and power.
Associated infrastructures of transportation includes roads,
bridges, tunnels, rail tracks, harbours and other means of
transport.
The increasing number of urban residents has made land
acquisition very costly and hence, making it difficult for car
owners to effectively create parking space or lot for their vehi-
cles. This has made residents to develop various means of cre-
ating a parking space within or above their building. An ex-
ample of such is a multi-storey car park which uses a ramp to Fig. 1. TLOF and FATO safety area relationship (Sarbi, 2009)
connect each levels of the multi-storey building.
A = Minimum TLOF Width 1.0 RD but not less than 12 m
———————————————— B = Minimum TLOF Length 1.0 RD but not less than 12 m
· S. A. Raji is a senior lecturer at the University of Ilorin, Department of Civil C = Minimum FATO Width 1.5 OL
Engineering, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]. D = Minimum FATO Length 1.5 OL
· J.S. Abolarin is currently pursuing masters degree program in Civil Engi-
neering, University of Ilorin. E-mail: [email protected] E = Minimum separation between the perimeters of the TLOF and the
· B.J. Ibitolu is currently pursuing masters degree program in Civil Engineer- FATO [0.5 x (1.5 OL -1.5 RD)]
ing, University of Ilorin. E-mail: [email protected] F = Minimum Safety Area
· B.A. Chabi is currently pursuing masters degree program in Civil Engineer-
ing, University of Ilorin. E-mail: [email protected]

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW it is with no fuelling, support facilities, it is defined as a helis-

top. Helideck are used to describe the actual landing surface of
In the socio-economical interaction particularly, transportation
the heliport same as helipad which is the one we are going to
has been and still is a substantial factor of human activity
use in this work. A helipad could simply be a temporary,
which permits a populace to extend and makes the growth of
cleared, level area [5].
the economy of every country be evaluated by its infrastruc-
A helipad is a helicopter landing pad or platform and desig-
ture growth. Transportation, in some structure is fundamental
nates a safe, identified landing area that is on an appropriate
and crucial part of the day by day cadence, bringing about
surface and while helicopters are able to operate on a variety
robust movement of people and good, has also aided with the
of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clear-
effective reciprocal action amidst different locations and as a
ly marked hard surface free from obstacles. Usually construct-
consequence, it is then forming the wheel on which the eco-
ed out of concrete, the landing site of the helipad shall be
nomic activities count on to grow [3]. The use of the different
marked out with a large circle with a letter H in the centre to
transportation facilities keep increasing with the rapid growth
make it easily to be spotted from the air. However, it is some-
of urbanization and ever population increase. The importance
times constructed out of timbers to receive supplies in remote
of technological development in the world including air
areas and often, when on buildings, it has a number that indi-
transport in all regions of life and its effect on social activity
cates the maximum take-off weight of a helicopter in units of
and economy is well widely known which makes the aircraft
thousands of pounds [7]. The world’s highest helipad built by
to get in competition with other types of transportation by
India is located on the Siachen Glacier at a height of 21,000 feet
providing plenty services to passengers, goods and emergency
(6400m) above sea level at a latitude of 35,5001596, a longitude
patients for hospitals. At various phases of improvement and
of 77,0001698 [8]. Meanwhile, the world’s largest heliport con-
in various arrangements of circumstances, the nature of the
taining 46 helipads is located in Morgan City, Louisiana and it
interest for transport is liable to differ. Furthermore, in the
is mostly used to support offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of
present study field, helicopter is the air transportation material
Mexico [9]. The multi storey helipad park is a major innova-

IJSER
to be dealt with [4]. Helicopters generally come in different
tion in developed and developing countries and its require-
sizes with uncountable uses for civilian and military purposes.
ment can be defended with the expanding number of rich Ni-
Their landing area can be described by the following typical
gerians that can bear the cost of Jets and Helicopters and to
and common names that are used interchangeably in many
offer alternatives to those that can manage the cost of it to beat
cases.
the car influxes and bother on Lagos-Ota streets [10].
Helipad design criteria are mainly dictated by regulatory re-
quirements and owner’s preferences within the regulatory
guidelines. The most important criteria are based on the avail-
ability of space, proximity of the obstruction around the site
and the metro logical conditions. In addition, the design of the
helipad is required to take the following items into considera-
tion: the purpose for which the helipad will be used; the type
and number of helicopters likely to use the helipad; the re-
quirement of the parking spaces, the access road to the heli-
pad, the ground manoeuvring of the helicopter, the security
fencing, the facilities for hangar, the fire fighting vehicles, the
ambulance, the refuters, the passenger lounge, the reception or
departure paths for passengers, the air traffic control hut and
air crew restrooms etc. [11].
The aim of this work is to model, analyse and design a multi-
storey helipad park for the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. This is
done by using two different software applications which are
the Autodesk Robot and the CSI ETABS. The results of the two
software are compared and then validated by designing a
structural member manually.

3 METHODOLOGY
A four storey reinforced concrete building with each storey
height of 3m is the proposed building for this work.
The steps and procedure involved in this work includes;
Fig. 2. Elevated Heliport: General Aviation [6]
1. Drafting of architectural drawing of the multi-storey Hel-
ipad Park using AutoCAD.
2. Planning and generation of General arrangement of struc-
The official name for formalized helicopter landing areas is tural members from the architectural drawing.
Heliport with fuelling, passenger building and hangars; when
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 8, Issue 3, March-2017
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3. Model generation (using Autodesk Robot 2015 and CSI · 600 mm x 230 mm for other beams of the roof deck.
ETABS 2015) · 450 x 225 mm for beams of storey one to four
4. Appropriate Load definitions. · Wall load is taken as 10 kN/m
5. Generation of the multi-storeyed helipad park.
6. Definition of model supports (fixed). 3.2.1 Beam Load Estimation (750 x 225 mm)
7. Definition of material (fcu= 25N/mm2) and section proper- S/Weight of Beam = 0.225 x 0.750 x 2.4 x 1.4
ties. = 5.67KN/m
8. Definition of static and lateral load cases. Finishes = 0.6 KN/m
9. Generation of load combinations. Wall Load = 10 x 1.4 = 14KN/m
10. Analysis and design Total Beam Load = 20.27KN/m
11. Generation of post analysis and design results and report.
3.3 Column Section
Manual analysis and design of structural elements were · 750mm x 230mm for critical columns directly underneath
carried out using the limit state design (ultimate and servicea- the helipad
bility) method in accordance with BS 8110. The Analysis of · 600mm x 230mm for other columns
selected 7-span beam for shear force and bending moment is
shown below. This includes estimation of load for the top floor 3.4 Column Section
slab intended to carrying the helicopter.
The load from the slab and also the beam (self-weight) were
The structural members analyzed and designed in this pro-
added and analysed by using Beamax. This gives the bending
ject include; slabs, beams and columns. A selected critical
moment as well as the shear force diagram of the beam.
beam which carries the live load of 19.069KN/m2 of Bell 409
Slab (200mm) + Beam = 64.2022 KN/m + 64.2022 KN/m +
Helicopter which was proposed is used for design of the struc-
20.27KN/m = 148.674 KN/m
ture was analyzed.

IJSER
Slab (175mm) Type 1 + Beam = 28.008KN/m +28.008KN/m +
The storey information and element section properties
20.27KN/m = 76.286 KN/m
which were inputted into the softwares for design are as indi-
Slab (175mm) Type 2 + Beam = 25.674 KN/m + 25.674 KN/m
cated below:
+ 20.27KN/m = 71.618 KN/m
A wind speed of 26 m/s was applied to the building with a
3.1 Slab Definition
wind coefficient of -0.8 windwards and -0.5 leewards.
· 200 mm slab depth for Helipad touchdown and lift off
area (TLOF), final approach and take-off (FATO) and safe-
ty area of the roof deck with a live load of 19.069 kN/m2 4 RESULTS
· 175mm for other slab areas on the roof deck with a live The weight of the structure gives 3411715.63kg
load of 5 kN/m2
· 150 mm for all the slabs from storey one to storey four
with a live load of 2 kN/m2

3.1.1 Slab Definition

Self-weight of Slab 0.2 x 24 = 4.8 kN/m2
Finishes = 1.2 kN/m2
Load imposed by Helicopter = 19.069 kN/m2
Design load = 1.4 Gk + 1.6 Qk = 1.4(4.8 + 1.2) + 1.6 (19.069)
= 38.9104 kN/m2
Ly/Lx = 1 (2-way spanning slab)
Clause 3.5.3.7 BS 8110
Vsy= β VxN Lx =0.33 x 38.9104 x 5 = 64.2022 kN/m

3.1.2 Slab Definition

S/W of Slab = 0.175 x 24 = 4.2 kN/m2
Finishes = 1.2 kN/m2
Live Load = 5 kN/m2
N = 1.4 Gk + 1.6 Qk = 1.4(4.2 + 1.2) + 1.6 (5) = 15.56 kN/m2
Clause 3.5.3.7 BS 8110
Vsy= β VxN Lx =0.36 x 15.56 x 5 = 28.008 kN/m (Type 1)
Vsy= β VxN Lx =0.33 x 15.56 x 5 = 25.674 kN/m (Type 2)
Fig. 3. ETABS Storey displacement
3.2 Beam Section
· 750 mm x 230 mm for the continuous critical beams span-
ning underneath the helipad
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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 8, Issue 3, March-2017
ISSN 2229-5518

Fig. 7. Beam Loading, shear force and bending moment diagram

Estimated the Shear Force and Bending Moment to gives:

Maximum Shear Force: 390.48 KN
Maximum Bending Moment (Span): 185.20 KN/m2
Maximum Bending Moment (Support): 327.58 KN/m2
Fig. 5. CSI ETABS storey displacement of the building when
subjected to wind load
5 CONCLUSION

IJSER
The software applications were found to reduce the time used
ETABS gives a maximum storey displacement of 0.148 mm in performing analysis needed for the helipad multistorey
at the storey top under the action of wind load. building. There is little difference in the result obtained from
the two software applications in wind load deflections of the
building. The maximum bending moment (Support) for the
selected beam (most critical beam) using the Robot Structural
analysis software was found to be 305.66 KNm while that got-
ten from manual analysis was found to be 327.58KNm. Also,
the maximum shear force for the selected beam using Robot
software was found to be 362.73KN while that from manual
analysis was found to be 390.48KN. The difference in the out-
put of the two results are due to the excessive factor of safety
used in the manual load combination.

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International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 8, Issue 3, March-2017
ISSN 2229-5518

2017, from
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