inclined columns
 

inclined columns
dear all,
nowadays most of the high rise buildings are of fancy shapes and regular rectangular shapes have become out of fashion. some buildings are coming up with shapes which are curved in elevation which necessitates inclined columns. is there any codal provisions relevant to inclined columns in codes around the world. i am specially interested in knowing whether american codes tell anything about the design of such columns.
interesting thread, i've seen a few inclined columns and always wondered how they are designed.
clansman
calgary, canada

why would an inclined column be designed any differently than a vertical column? if it is a gravity column then it is pinned-pinned and has essentially axial load only. it would obviously throw some additional lateral load on the lateral system, but that's not of concern for the design of the actual inclined column (again, assuming it is a gravity column). if it is a lateral column, again, why would the design be any different? model your actual geometry and loading conditions, get your axial loads and moments and design accordingly. compression braces in braced frames are essentially inclined columns, right? beams in braced frames subjected to compression are horizontal columns, right? who cares how it is oriented, it's the loading that matters.