Previous studies have shown that the integrated transfer function (ITF) is independent of turbulence characteristics and can be effectively applied to predict the buffeting response of elongated structures, assuming that the strip hypothesis is valid. However, existing research has not effectively identified the ITF through segment model vibration tests, and the influence of the 3D effect on the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and the characteristics of the ITF in wind tunnel tests has not been quantitatively studied. A segment model vibration measurement device that can change a test model's span-width ratio was designed in this study. An airfoil section and a streamlined box girder section structure were taken as the background, and their ITFs were effectively identified under different L/B (L denotes the turbulent integral scale and B denotes the structural width) and model span-width ratios. The influence laws of the 3D effect on the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and ITF identification in wind tunnel tests were systematically investigated. The results showed that L/B and the structural span-width ratio are two significant controlling factors that affect the accuracy of the strip hypothesis and ITF identification. The research provides an effective experimental method for accurately predicting the buffeting response of elongated structures based on ITFs identified through segment model vibration tests.

Wind turbines are usually steel hollow structures that can be vulnerable to dramatic failures due to high-intensity wind (HIW) events, which are classified as a category of localized windstorms that includes tornadoes and downbursts. Analyzing Wind Turbines (WT) under tornadoes is a challenging-to-achieve task because tornadoes are much more complicated wind fields compared with the synoptic boundary layer wind fields, considering that the tornado's 3-D velocity components vary largely in space. As a result, the supporting tower of the wind turbine and the blades will experience different velocities depending on the location of the event. Wind farms also extend over a large area so that the probability of a localized windstorm event impacting one or more towers is relatively high. Therefore, the built-in-house numerical code "HIW-WT" has been developed to predict the straining actions on the blades considering the variability of the tornado's location and the blades' pitch angle. The developed HIWWT numerical model incorporates different wind fields that were generated from developed CFD models. The developed numerical model was applied on an actual wind turbine under three different tornadoes that have different tornadic structure. It is found that F2 tornado wind fields present significant hazard for the wind turbine blades and have to be taken into account if the hazardous impact of this type of unexpected load is to be avoided.

This study is to investigate the effect of interference between two C-shaped high-rise buildings by computational fluid dynamics (CFD), focusing on the variation of the local pressure coefficient (C_P) and the mean pressure coefficient (C_PMEAN). Sixteen building position cases are considered for the present study. These cases were based on the position and height of the interference building (IB). The pressure coefficient (C_P) is calculated on the principal building (PB) and is compared with an isolated building identical in shape and size. The interference effect on PB has also been presented in reference for the interference factor (IF). According to the findings, the maximum force coefficient on the PB is 0.971 and it is 10.97% more than the isolated PB when IB is located at position 2b (two times the width of the building), and the interfering height of 13H/15 mm. The moment coefficient on PB is 1.27, which is 27.36% less than the isolated case in which IB pushed 2b to 3b in the y direction with 750 mm height. In most of the cases, because of the shielding effect of the IB, the value of force coefficient (C_F) on PB has been reduced. On the face of the PB, there are also considerable differences in the mean pressure coefficient C_PMEAN. When IB was positioned at a location of 2b in Y direction and an interfering height of 13H/15 mm, the maximum C_PMEAN (1.58) was observed on the leeward face of PB.

Accurate estimation of modal parameters (i.e., natural frequency, damping ratio) of tall buildings is of great importance to their structural design, structural health monitoring, vibration control, and state assessment. Based on the combination of variational mode decomposition, smoothed discrete energy separation algorithm-1, and Half-cycle energy operator (VMD-SH), this paper presents a method for structural modal parameter estimation. The variational mode decomposition is proved to be effective and reliable for decomposing the mixed-signal with low frequencies and damping ratios, and the validity of both smoothed discrete energy separation algorithm-1 and Half-cycle energy operator in the modal identification of a single modal system is verified. By incorporating these techniques, the VMD-SH method is able to accurately identify and extract the various modes present in a signal, providing improved insights into its underlying structure and behavior. Subsequently, a numerical study of a four-story frame structure is conducted using the Newmark-β method, and it is found that the relative errors of natural frequency and damping ratio estimated by the presented method are much smaller than those by traditional methods, validating the effectiveness and accuracy of the combined method for the modal identification of the multi-modal system. Furthermore, the presented method is employed to estimate modal parameters of a full-scale tall building utilizing acceleration responses. The identified results verify the applicability and accuracy of the presented VMD-SH method in field measurements. The study demonstrates the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed VMD-SH method in accurately estimating modal parameters of tall buildings from acceleration response data.

The main objective of this study was to establish design guidelines for three key design variables (spar thickness, spar diameter, and total draft) by examining their impact on the stress distribution and resonant frequency of a 2.5-MW spar-type floating offshore wind turbine substructure under extreme marine conditions, such as during Typhoon Bolaven. The current findings revealed that the substructure experienced maximum stress at wave frequencies of either 0.199 Hz or 0.294 Hz, consistent with previously reported experimental findings. These results indicated that the novel simulation method proposed in this study, which simultaneously combines hydrodynamic diffraction analysis, computational dynamics analysis, and structural analysis, was successfully validated. It also demonstrated that our proposed simulation method precisely quantified the stress distribution of the substructure. The novel findings, which reveal that the maximum stress of the substructure increases with an increase in total draft and a decrease in spar thickness and spar diameter, offer valuable insights for optimizing the design of spar-type floating offshore wind turbine substructures operating in various harsh marine environments.