Analysis of tall chimney with piled raft foundation under wind load using ANSYS

Abstract

Chimneys are the principal structures in any industry that emits pollutants to higher parts of the atmosphere. The geometrical traits of the chimney are so unique that it has slender dimensions and tapering geometry and therefore the analysis and design of chimney and other forms of tower structures should be carried out individually. Nowadays chimney heights have gone up from 100 m to more than 400 m according to the purpose that it serves. These tall chimneys are very sensitive to wind loads. Wind load is one of the most important parameters that affect the response of tall building’s chimneys. When tall chimneys are subjected to wind load, it may undergo lateral deflection. It also leads to the development of radial and tangential moments along with base moments. The dynamic wind effects on chimneys by analytical procedures are intricate and take a great amount of time. To analyze and further improve the response of chimneys, analysis using commercial finite element (FE) software ANSYS is carried out. Chimney with and without providing stiffeners is analyzed using ANSYS and the lateral deflection and bending moment found from the chimney models are compared. This method is more economical and time-saving.