• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.53-70
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• 2003

Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong is the longest suspension bridge in the world carrying both highway and railway. It has two H-shape concrete towers, each of which is composed of two reinforced concrete legs and four deep transverse prestressed concrete beams. A series of wind tunnel tests have been performed to measure the aerodynamic coefficients of the tower legs and transverse beams in various arrangements. A 1:100 scaled 3D rigid model of the full bridge tower assembled from various tower components has been constructed for different test cases. The aerodynamic coefficients of the lower and upper segments of the windward and leeward tower legs and those of the transverse beams at different levels, with and without the dummy bridge deck model, were measured as a function of yaw wind angle. The effects of wind interference among the tower components and the influence of the bridge deck on the tower aerodynamic coefficients were also investigated. The results achieved can be used as the pertinent data for the comparison of the computed and field-measured fully coupled buffeting responses of the entire bridge under yaw winds.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.617-633
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• 2016

In this paper, the analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower on elastic subsoil exposed to unsymmetrical wind loading is presented. Modified Vlasov foundation model is used to determine the soil parameters as a function of vertical deformation profile within subsoil. The iterative parameter updating procedure involves the use of Open Application Programming Interface (OAPI) feature of SAP2000 to provide two way data flow during execution. A computing tool coded in MATLAB employing OAPI is used to perform the analysis of hyperbolic cooling tower with supporting columns over a hollow annular raft founded on elastic subsoil. The analysis of such complex soil-structure system is investigated under self-weight and unsymmetrical wind load. The response of the cooling tower on elastic subsoil is compared with that of a tower that its supporting raft foundation is treated as fixed at the base. The results show that the effect of subsoil on the behavior of cooling tower is considerable at the top and bottom of the wall as well as supporting columns and raft foundation. The application of a full-size cooling tower has demonstrated that the procedure is simple, fast and can easily be implemented in practice.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.939-957
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• 2015

In this paper, a new approach based on the continuum model is proposed to estimate the main cable tension force of suspension bridges from measured natural frequencies. This approach considered the vertical vibration of a main cable hinged at both towers and supported by an elastic girder and hangers along its entire length. The equation reflected the relationship between vibration frequency and horizontal tension force of a main cable was derived. To avoid to generate the additional cable tension force by sag-extensibility, the analytical solution of characteristic equation for anti-symmetrical vibration mode of the main cable was calculated. Then, the estimation of main cable tension force was carried out by anti-symmetric characteristic frequency vector. The errors of estimation due to characteristic frequency deviations were investigated through numerical analysis of the main cable of Taizhou Bridge. A field experiment was conducted to verify the proposed approach. Through measuring and analyzing the responses of a main cable of Taizhou Bridge under ambient excitation, the horizontal tension force of the main cable was identified from the first three odd frequencies. It is shown that the estimated results agree well with the designed values. The proposed approach can be used to conduct the long-term health monitoring of suspension bridges.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.451-469
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• 2010

The majority of weather-related failures of transmission line structures that have occurred in the past have been attributed to high intensity localized wind events, in the form of tornadoes and downbursts. A numerical scheme is developed in the current study to assess the performance of transmission lines under tornado wind load events. The tornado wind field is based on a model scale Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis that was conducted and validated in a previous study. Using field measurements and code specifications, the CFD model data is used to estimate the wind fields for F4 and F2 full scale tornadoes. The wind forces associated with these tornado fields are evaluated and later incorporated into a nonlinear finite element three-dimensional model for the transmission line system, which includes a simulation for the towers and the conductors. A comparison is carried between the forces in the members resulting from the tornadoes, and those obtained using the conventional design wind loads. The study reveals the importance of considering tornadoes when designing transmission line structures.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2014

Modern design of long suspension bridges must satisfy at the same time spanning very long distances and limiting their response against several external loads, even if of high intensity. Structural Control, with the solutions it provides, can offer a reliable contribution to limit internal forces and deformations in structural elements when extreme events occur. This positive aspect is very interesting when the dimensions of the structure are large. Herein, an updated numerical model of an existing suspension bridge is developed in a commercial finite element work frame, starting from original data. This model is used to reevaluate an optimization procedure for a passive control strategy, already proven effective with a simplified model of the buffeting wind forces. Such optimization procedure, previously implemented with a quasi-steady model of the buffeting excitation, is here reevaluated adopting a more refined version of the wind-structure interaction forces in which wind actions are applied on the towers and the cables considering drag forces only. For the deck a more refined formulation, based on the use of indicial functions, is adopted to reflect coupling with the bridge orientation and motion. It is shown that there is no variation of the previously identified optimal passive configuration.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.235-240
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• 2007

Performance of an air-cooled plate heat exchanger (PHE) was evaluated in this study. The PHE was manufactured in two types of single-wave and double-wave plates in parallel assembly. The heat exchanger aims to substitute open-loop cooling towers with closed-loop water circulation, which guarantees cleanliness and compactness. In this study, prototype single-wave and double-wave PHEs were designed and tested in a laboratory scale experiments. From the tests, the double-wave PHE shows approximately 50% enhanced heat transfer performance compared to the single-wave PHE. However, the double-wave PHE costs 30% additional pressure drop. For the commercialization, a wide channel design for air flow would be essential for performance and reliability.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.327-332
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• 2017

This paper discusses several topics associated with the densification caused by supertall buildings and their impact on city systems. The paper covers five key areas where a supertall tower creates a concentration of needs and effects. First, the paper comments on population shifts towards the city and how they affect carbon footprint, utilities infrastructure and transport. The effect of single- and mixed-use towers is discussed in the context of population density. The second section brings the issues of transit, accessibility and master planning into focus. The use and criticality of public transport, cycling and walking is described. Servicing and deliveries using freight consolidation and shared systems is also discussed along with their contribution to the culture of sustainable travel. In the third section the paper reflects on supertall buildings' below-ground utilities and drainage provision, particularly the challenges faced in established city infrastructures. The utilities issues associated with supertall concentration (in land-use terms) compared to equivalent low-rise distribution is also commented on in the context of surface water runoff. In the fourth section, the topic of supertall sustainability is discussed and how city systems need to respond to create desirable and affordable space for occupiers. The changing need for vertical communities, 'stacked neighbourhoods' and the notion of a micro-city is described. Finally, the paper considers the energy consumption and resilience of supertall buildings in the context of basic geometry, façade design, climate and mixed-use benefits as they impact city systems.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2017

The result of the previous work leads to the idea that the inner area of the hyperbolic shell generator should be minimized for the cooling tower with higher first natural frequency. In this study the inner area of the hyperbolic shell generator was graphically established under varying height of the throat and angle of the base lintel. From the graph, several shell geometries were selected and analysed in the aspect of the natural frequency. Three representative towers reinforced differently due to different first natural frequencies were analysed non-linearly and evaluated using a damage indicator based on the change of natural frequencies. The results demonstrated that the damage behaviour of the tower reinforced higher due to a lower first natural frequency was not necessarily advantageous than the others.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.183-199
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• 1998

This paper discusses some of the findings arising from long-term monitoring of the wind effects on a transmission tower located on an exposed site in South-West England. Site wind speeds have been measured, together with the foundation loads at the base of each of the four legs. The results show good correlation between the wind speeds and leg strains (loads) for a given wind direction, as expected, for wind speeds in excess of 10 m/s. Comparisons between the measured strains and those determined from the UK Code of Practice for lattice towers (BS8100), for the same wind speed and direction, show that the Code over-estimates most of the measured foundation loads by a moderate amount of about 14% at the higher wind speeds. This tends to confirm the validity of the Code for assessing design foundation loads. A finite element analysis model has been used to examine the dynamic behaviour of the tower and conductor system. This shows that, in the absence of the conductor, the tower alone has similar natural frequencies of approximately 2.2 Hz in the both the first (transversal) and second (longitudinal) modes, whilst for the complete system and conductor oscillations dominate, giving similar frequencies of approximately 0.1 Hz for both the first and second modes.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.135-147
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• 2016

This paper describes a smart structural system, which uses smart materials for real-time monitoring and active control of bolted-joints in steel structures. The goal of this research is to reduce the possibility of failure and the cost of maintenance of steel structures such as bridges, electricity pylons, steel lattice towers and so on. The concept of the smart structural system combines impedance based health monitoring techniques with a shape memory alloy (SMA) washer to restore the tension of the loosened bolt. The impedance-based structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques were used to detect loosened bolts in bolted-joints. By comparing electrical impedance signatures measured from a potentially damage structure with baseline data obtained from the pristine structure, the bolt loosening damage could be detected. An outlier analysis, using generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution, providing optimal decision boundaries, has been carried out for more systematic damage detection. Once the loosening damage was detected in the bolted joint, the external heater, which was bonded to the SMA washer, actuated the washer. Then, the heated SMA washer expanded axially and adjusted the bolt tension to restore the lost torque. Additionally, temperature variation due to the heater was compensated by applying the effective frequency shift (EFS) algorithm to improve the performance of the diagnostic results. An experimental study was conducted by integrating the piezoelectric material based structural health monitoring and the SMA-based active control function on a bolted joint, after which the performance of the smart 'self-monitoring and self-healing bolted joint system' was demonstrated.