What is SpeedCore?
SpeedCore is a concrete-filled composite steel plate shear wall core. Ron Klemencic of Magnusson Klemencic Associates brought a previously existing idea forward as the Coupled Composite Plate Shear Wall – Concrete Filled (CCPSW-CF) system is now known as “SpeedCore.”
SpeedCore allows builders to save time and cost on tower erection by bypassing the labor-intensive and time-consuming processes typically required for reinforced concrete construction. The system begins with prefabricated panels consisting of two structural steel plates held apart with cross-connecting tie rods. After erection, these panels are filled with concrete, creating a unique sandwich-style structure that provides strength and stability.
With SpeedCore erection takes an estimated 43% less time to complete than it would with a traditional cast-in-place reinforced concrete core.
SpeedCore system under construction at Rainier Square Tower. – Photo from MKA
The system begins with prefabricated panels consisting of two structural steel plates held apart with cross-connecting tie rods. After erection, these panels are filled with concrete, creating a unique sandwich-style structure that provides strength and stability (see above diagram). In most designs, the steel in SpeedCore can support up to four floors of decking by itself, making it possible to erect four floors in a week. After erection, these panels are filled with concrete, creating a unique sandwich-style structure that provides strength and stability along with the benefits of rapid erection.
How Does It Work?
The fundamental element is a panel of sandwiched steel plates filled with concrete. Cross-connecting tie rods hold two structural steel plates in place, supporting the wall panel before the concrete is poured. After erection, these panels are filled with concrete and left in place, providing strength and stability along with a rapid erection procedure that doesn’t rely on the complex and time-consuming process required for a reinforced concrete core.
Erection times using a reinforced concrete core can vary, but a pace of three to five days per floor is not uncommon. With SpeedCore it’s possible to build four floors–that’s two tiers–in a week. SpeedCore is a non-proprietary system, meaning many American steel fabricators can produce the panels.
Using SpeedCore also eliminates the persistent construction tolerance issues that tend to appear when using an embedded plate to combine concrete construction and steel construction. With SpeedCore, steel connection plates can be welded directly to the wall panel.
Coupled steel-plate test specimens, shown before concrete filling is added, have various spacing and quantities of cross ties and shear studs. – Photo courtesy of AISC
Benefits of SpeedCore
Cost Savings – SpeedCore’s rapid erection translates into construction cost savings and earlier tenant occupancy.
Schedule Reduction – With SpeedCore, it’s possible to build four floors–that’s two tiers–in a week, allowing for a greatly reduced construction schedule.
Strength – The SpeedCore system uses pre-fabricated steel panels filled with concrete to create a unique structure that provides immense strength and stability.
More Flexibility for Adaptive Reuse – SpeedCore construction facilitates adaptive reuse projects because the system is predictable and has no hidden reinforcing bars.
Increased Blast Resistance – Although this system’s use for high-rise construction is novel and innovative, it has been used extensively for nuclear power facilities worldwide due to its superior impact- and blast-resistant qualities.
Eliminates Construction Tolerance Issues and Dimensional Conflicts – With SpeedCore, steel connection plates can be welded directly to the wall panel, eliminating construction tolerance issues and dimension conflicts.
Safety – Much of the SpeedCore construction process takes place under the cover of steel deck because its timeline is so closely aligned with floor framing. This decreases workers’ exposure to falling objects.
Seattle’s second tallest tower rises on steel plates, without rebar. Side-by-side renderings of the Rainier Square Tower, left, with its core system exposed, right. (Left, courtesy Wright Runstad & Company, right, courtesy Magnusson Klemencic Associates)
Real-World SpeedCore Projects
The first high-rise building to use SpeedCore, Rainier Square Tower in Seattle, is scheduled to open for occupancy in 2021. What makes it truly remarkable, though, is that the 850-ft.-tall tower only took 10 months to erect!
While Rainier Square is the first project to use SpeedCore, others are scheduled to soon follow, including 200 Park Avenue in San Jose, California. This 19-story office building, under construction in the heart of Silicon Valley, will be delivered many months faster than traditional construction techniques.
More towers in Boston and Chicago are in the planning stages, and the New York City Department of Buildings has approved the use of SpeedCore in all five boroughs.
For more information about SpeedCore and its use in Rainier Square Tower, visit www.aisc.org/speedcore or contact the Steel Solutions Center at solutions@aisc.org.
Resources
Bhardwaj, S. R., Varma, A. H., AISC Steel Design Guide 32: Design of Modular Steel-Plate Composite Walls for Safety-Related Nuclear Facilities, American Institute of Steel Construction, 2017, 1)
Ramesh, S., Kreger, M.E., Bowman, M.D., Design Procedure for Dual-Plate Composite Shear Walls. School of Civil Engineering Purdue University, June 2014.
https://www.aisc.org/why-steel/innovative-systems/SpeedCore/
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