高层建筑中英文对照外文翻译文献

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中英文对照外文翻译文献

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英文原文

Components of A Building and Tall Buildings

1. Abstract

Materials and structural forms are combined to make up the various parts of a

building, including the load-carrying frame, skin, floors, and partitions. The building also

has mechanical and electrical systems, such as elevators, heating and cooling systems,

and lighting systems. The superstructure is that part of a building above ground, and

the substructure and foundation is that part of a building below ground.

The skyscraper owes its existence to two developments of the 19th century: steel

skeleton construction and the passenger elevator. Steel as a construction material dates

from the introduction of the Bessemer converter in 1885.Gustave Eiffel (1832-1932)

introduced steel construction in France. His designs for the Galerie des Machines and the

Tower for the Paris Exposition of 1889 expressed the lightness of the steel framework.

The Eiffel Tower, 984 feet (300 meters) high, was the tallest structure built by man and

was not surpassed until 40 years later by a series of American skyscrapers.

Elisha Otis installed the first elevator in a department store in New York in 1857.In

1889, Eiffel installed the first elevators on a grand scale in the Eiffel Tower, whose

hydraulic elevators could transport 2,350 passengers to the summit every hour.

2. Load-Carrying Frame

Until the late 19th century, the exterior walls of a building were used as bearing

walls to support the floors. This construction is essentially a post and lintel type,

and it is still used in frame construction for houses. Bearing-wall construction

limited the height of building because of the enormous wall thickness required；for

instance, the 16-story Monadnock Building built in the 1880’s in Chicago had walls 5

feet (1.5 meters) thick at the lower floors. In 1883, William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907)

supported floors on cast-iron columns to form a cage-like construction. Skeleton

construction, consisting of steel beams and columns, was first used in 1889. As a

consequence of skeleton construction, the enclosing walls become a “curtain wall” rather

than serving a supporting function. Masonry was the curtain wall material until the

1930’s, when light metal and glass curtain walls were used. After the introduction of

buildings continued to increase rapidly.

All tall buildings were built with a skeleton of steel until World War Ⅱ. After the

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war, the shortage of steel and the improved quality of concrete led to tall building being

built of reinforced concrete. Marina Tower (1962) in Chicago is the tallest concrete

building in the United States； its height—588 feet (179 meters)—is exceeded by the

650-foot (198-meter) Post Office Tower in London and by other towers.

A change in attitude about skyscraper construction has brought a return to the use of

the bearing wall. In New York City, the Columbia Broadcasting System Building,

designed by Eero Saarinen in 1962,has a perimeter wall consisting of 5-foot (1.5meter)

wide concrete columns spaced 10 feet (3 meters) from column center to center. This

perimeter wall, in effect, constitutes a bearing wall. One reason for this trend is that

stiffness against the action of wind can be economically obtained by using the walls of

the building as a tube； the World Trade Center building is another example of this tube

approach. In contrast, rigid frames or vertical trusses are usually provided to give lateral

stability.

3. Skin

The skin of a building consists of both transparent elements (windows) and opaque

elements (walls). Windows are traditionally glass, although plastics are being used,

especially in schools where breakage creates a maintenance problem. The wall elements,

which are used to cover the structure and are supported by it, are built of a variety of

materials: brick, precast concrete, stone, opaque glass, plastics, steel, and aluminum.

Wood is used mainly in house construction； it is not generally used for commercial,

industrial, or public building because of the fire hazard.

4. Floors

The construction of the floors in a building depends on the basic structural frame that

is used. In steel skeleton construction, floors are either slabs of concrete resting on steel

beams or a deck consisting of corrugated steel with a concrete topping. In concrete

construction, the floors are either slabs of concrete on concrete beams or a series of

closely spaced concrete beams (ribs) in two directions topped with a thin concrete slab,

giving the appearance of a waffle on its underside. The kind of floor that is used depends