Full-Scale Observations for the Combined Wind-Induced Responses of a Cylindrical Tower

Abstract

This paper presents full-scale observations of wind-induced vibrations on a 140[Formula: see text]m high cylindrical reinforced concrete tower under non-stationary and strong wind conditions. The vibration responses of the tower in two planar orthogonal axes and rotation, in conjunction with wind speed and direction data, have been utilized to extract the response characteristics. The primary focus is on discussing the correlation of wind-induced responses in three components: Along-wind, across-wind, and torsion. Throughout the varying levels of oscillation, the tower’s responses clearly exhibit correlations among these components. The correlation coefficients between along-wind and across-wind responses, as well as along-wind and torsional responses, remain negligible across the entire dataset. In contrast, during intense oscillations, there is a near-perfect correlation between the across-wind and torsional responses. Furthermore, the probability density functions (PDFs) of the response components under strong wind conditions significantly deviate from the Gaussian distribution and closely resemble the Cauchy distribution. The joint PDFs also indicate that the along-wind response is statistically independent of the other response components, while the across-wind response correlates well with the torsion, as indicated by the non-Gaussian distribution. This paper also includes distinct observations regarding dominant oscillating frequencies, torsional amplitudes, and vertical vibration amplitudes. The importance of this research lies in its examination of the relationship between different response components, a crucial aspect in understanding how structures behave under wind loading. By emphasizing the need for full-scale measurements, this study aims to provide valuable validation for previous theoretical and experimental research findings.