• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.76 no.2
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• pp.269-278
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• 2020

In this paper, the mechanical characteristics of the open type hyperbolic-parabolic membrane structure under wind load were investigated. First, the numerical simulation of a typical plane membrane structure was performed based on the Large-Eddy Simulation method. The accuracy of the simulation method was validated by the corresponding wind tunnel test results. Then, the wind load shape coefficients of open type hyperbolic-parabolic membrane structures are obtained from the series of numerical calculations and compared with the recommended values in the "Technical Specification for Membrane Structures (CECS 158: 2015). Finally, the influences of the wind directions and wind speeds on the mean wind pressure distribution of open type hyperbolic-parabolic membrane structures were investigated. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the wind-induced response for this type of structure and be useful to engineers and researchers.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.485-505
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• 2014

This study aimed to develop an approach to accurately predict the wind models and wind effects of large wind turbines. The wind-induced vibration characteristics of a 5 MW tower-blade coupled wind turbine system have been investigated in this paper. First, the blade-tower integration model was established, which included blades, nacelle, tower and the base of the wind turbine system. The harmonic superposition method and modified blade element momentum theory were then applied to simulate the fluctuating wind field for the rotor blades and tower. Finally, wind-induced responses and equivalent static wind loads (ESWL) of the system were studied based on the modified consistent coupling method, which took into account coupling effects of resonant modes, cross terms of resonant and background responses. Furthermore, useful suggestions were proposed to instruct the wind resistance design of large wind turbines. Based on obtained results, it is shown from the obtained results that wind-induced responses and ESWL were characterized with complicated modal responses, multi-mode coupling effects, and multiple equivalent objectives. Compared with the background component, the resonant component made more contribution to wind-induced responses and equivalent static wind loads at the middle-upper part of the tower and blades, and cross terms between background and resonant components affected the total fluctuation responses, while the background responses were similar with the resonant responses at the bottom of tower.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.401-420
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• 2007

Field measurements of the wind-induced response of two residential reinforced concrete buildings, among the tallest in the world, have been performed during two typhoons. Natural periods and damping values have been determined and compared with other field measurements and empirical predictors. Suitable and common empirical predictors of natural period and structural damping have been obtained that describe the trend of tall, reinforced concrete buildings whose structural vibrations have been measured in the collection of studies in Hong Kong compiled by the authors. This data is especially important as the amount of information known about the dynamic parameters of buildings of these heights is limited. Effects of the variation of the natural period and damping values on the alongwind response of a tall building for serviceability-level wind conditions have been profiled using the gust response factor approach. When using this approach on these two buildings, the often overestimated natural periods and structural damping values suggested by empirical predictors tended to offset each other. Gust response factors calculated using the natural periods and structural damping values measured in the field were smaller than if calculated using design-stage values.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2020

Wind measurements were made on the Canton Tower at a height of 461 m above ground during the Typhoon Vincente, the wind-induced accelerations and displacements of the tower were recorded as well. Comparisons of measured wind parameters at upper level of atmospheric boundary layer with those adopted in wind tunnel testing were presented. The measured turbulence intensity can be smaller than the design value, indicating that the wind tunnel testing may underestimate the crosswind structural responses for certain lock-in velocity range of vortex shedding. Analyses of peak factors and power spectral density for acceleration response shows that the crosswind responses are a combination of gust-induced buffeting and vortex-induced vibrations in the certain range of wind directions. The identified modal frequencies and mode shapes from acceleration data are found to be in good agreement with existing experimental results and the prediction from the finite element model. The damping ratios increase with amplitude of vibration or equivalently wind velocity which may be attributed to aerodynamic damping. In addition, the natural frequencies determined from the measured displacement are very close to those determined from the acceleration data for the first two modes. Finally, the relation between displacement responses and wind speed/direction was investigated.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.235-253
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• 2019

This paper reviews shape optimization studies for tall and super-tall building design. Firstly, shape effects on aerodynamic and response characteristics are introduced and discussed. Effects of various configurations such as corner modifications, taper, setback, openings, and twists are examined. Comprehensive comparative studies on various configurations including polygon building models, and composite type building models such as corner-cut and taper, corner-cut and taper and helical, and so on, are also discussed under the conditions of the same height and volume. Aerodynamic characteristics are improved by increasing the twist angle of helical buildings and increasing the number of sides of polygon buildings, but a twist angle of $180^{\circ}$ and a number of sides of 5 (pentagon) seem to be enough. The majority of examined configurations show better aerodynamic characteristics than straight-square. In particular, composite type buildings and helical polygon buildings show significant improvement. Next, shape effects on pedestrian-level wind characteristics around tall and super-tall buildings are introduced and discussed. Corner modification buildings show significant reductions in speed-up areas. On the other hand, setback and tapered models with wider projected widths near the ground show adverse effects on pedestrian-level wind characteristics.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.373-391
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• 2013

This is the first of two companion papers that analyse ten years of on-site monitoring data for the Confederation Bridge to determine the validity of the original wind speeds and wind loads predicted in 1994 when the bridge was being designed. The check of the original design values is warranted because the design wind speed at the middle of Northumberland Strait was derived from data collected at shore-based weather stations, and the design wind loads were based on tests of section and full-aeroelastic models in the wind tunnel. This first paper uses wind, tilt, and acceleration monitoring data to determine the static and dynamic responses of the bridge, which are then used in the second paper to derive the static and dynamic wind loads. It is shown that the design ten-minute mean wind speed with a 100-year return period is 1.5% less than the 1994 design value, and that the bridge has been subjected to this design event once on November 7, 2001. The dynamic characteristics of the instrumented spans of the bridge including frequencies, mode shapes and damping are in good agreement with published values reported by others. The on-site monitoring data show bridge response to be that of turbulent buffeting which is consistent with the response predicted at the design stage.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.89-104
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• 2021

Non-synoptic winds generated by tornadoes, downbursts or gust fronts exhibit significant non-stationarity and can cause significant wind load effect on flexible structures such as long-span bridges. However, conventional assumptions on stationarity used to evaluate the structural wind-induced vibration are inadequate. In this paper, an efficient frequency domain scheme based on fast CQC method, which can predict non-stationary buffeting random responses of long-span bridges, is presented, and then this approach is applied to evaluate the buffeting response of a long-span suspension bridge located in a complex mountainous wind environment as an example. In this study, the data-driven method based on one available measured wind speed sample is firstly presented to establish non-stationary wind models, including time-varying mean wind speed, time-varying intensity envelope function and uniformly modulated fluctuating spectrum. Then, a linear time-variant (LTV) system based on the proposed scheme can be generally applied to calculate the non-stationary buffeting responses. The effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed scheme are verified through Monte Carlo time domain simulation implemented in ANSYS platform. Also, the transient effect nature of the bridge responses is further illustrated by comparison of the non-stationary, quasistationary and steady-state cases. Finally, buffeting response analysis with traditional stationary treatment (10 min constant mean plus stationary wind fluctuation) is performed to illustrate the importance of the non-stationary characteristics embedded in original wind speed samples.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.449-457
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• 2001

In the design of industrial chimneys and towers, structural engineers must assume a level of the inherent damping in the structures. In order to better estimate the dynamic response of those structures, actual damping was measured from wind-induced vibration signals of chimneys and towers and its characteristics with respect to the response levels, the structural systems, and the wind direction were discussed. Damping ratio and natural frequency for three chimneys and two towers were calculated using random decrement technique.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.43-57
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• 1998

A three-degree-of-freedom base hinged assembly (BHA) for aeroelastic model tests of tall building was developed. The integral parts of a BHA, which consists of two perpendicular plane frames and a flexural pivot, enable this modeling technique to independently simulate building translational and torsional degree-of-freedom. A program of wind tunnel aeroelastic model tests of the CAARC standard tall building was conducted with emphasis on the effect of (a) torsional motion, (b) cross-wind/torsional frequency ratio and (c) the presence of an eccentricity between center of mass and center of stiffness on wind-induced response characteristics. The experimental results highlight the significant effect of coupled translational-torsional motion and the effect of eccentricity between center of mass and center of stiffness on the resultant rms acceleration responses in both along-wind and cross-wind directions especially at operating reduced wind velocities close to a critical value of 10. In addition, it was sound that the vortex shedding process remains the main excitation mechanism in cross-wind direction even in case of tall buildings with coupled translational-torsional motion and with eccentricity.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.353-370
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• 2014

A new method is proposed in this study for estimating the damping ratio of a super tall building under strong wind loads with short-time measured acceleration signals. This method incorporates two main steps. Firstly, the power spectral density of wind-induced acceleration response is obtained by the wavelet transform, then the dynamic characteristics including the natural frequency and damping ratio for the first vibration mode are estimated by a nonlinear regression analysis on the power spectral density. A numerical simulation illustrated that the damping ratios identified by the wavelet spectrum are superior in precision and stability to those values obtained from Welch's periodogram spectrum. To verify the efficiency of the proposed method, wind-induced acceleration responses of the Guangzhou West Tower (GZWT) measured in the field during Typhoon Usagi, which affected this building on September 22, 2013, were used. The damping ratios identified varied from 0.38% to 0.61% in direction 1 and from 0.22% to 0.59% in direction 2. This information is expected to be of considerable interest and practical use for engineers and researchers involved in the wind-resistant design of super-tall buildings.