Full-Scale Validation of Dynamic Wind Load on a Super-Tall Building under Strong Wind
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 9
Abstract
This paper presents work on validating the dynamic wind load predicted by a wind tunnel model with the values identified from full-scale field vibration data of a super-tall building in Hong Kong. Dynamic wind load in this work refers to the power spectral density (PSD) of the modal force near the natural frequency of a particular mode of the building, in the context of random vibration with stationary loading and response. This quantity reflects the turbulence characteristics integrated over the building body and is of importance in wind engineering design. This study presents a method to predict the modal PSD of wind load of the first two translational modes of a tall building. The method combines wind tunnel test information and mean wind data available in the free field; the latter taken to be at the Waglan Island station maintained by the Hong Kong Observatory. On the full-scale side, although the modal PSD is not directly observable, it is identified from field vibration data measured at the building top during strong wind events. A Bayesian modal identification method is used for determining the most probable value and the uncertainty of the modal parameters including the natural frequency, damping ratio, and the modal PSD. A number of recent strong wind events are analyzed. Reasonable agreement is observed between the wind tunnel model predictions and the values identified from field data. Factors that can potentially lead to discrepancy are discussed. As the same random vibration modeling consistent with conventional wind engineering design has been used in the wind tunnel prediction model and field identification model, the results are directly transferable among these three disciplines.
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Acknowledgments
This work was funded by Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong, Ltd. through Collaborative Research Agreement No. URN05/816d and DTX/ID/6439. The support is gratefully acknowledged. Dr. Ching-Tai Ng, currently lecturer at the School of Civil Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide, assisted in processing the wind tunnel data and some preliminary calculations while he was senior research associate at the City University of Hong Kong. The writers thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 9 • September 2012
Pages: 1161 - 1172
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 10, 2011
Accepted: Nov 17, 2011
Published online: Aug 15, 2012
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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