Mitigation of wind‐induced motion of Milad Tower by tuned mass damper

Abstract

AbstractWith a height of 435 m, Milad Tower, situated in north‐west of Tehran, Iran, would be the fourth highest telecommunication tower of the world. This tower has the largest head structure among its counterparts. Preliminary studies demonstrate that the upper part of the tower has excessive wind‐induced acceleration‐related vibrations beyond human comfort limit during wind events. In this paper, the effectiveness of tuned mass damper (TMD) on the suppression of wind‐induced motion of Milad Tower is examined through mathematical analyses. The tower is modelled as a vertical linear cantilever beam, with 57 degrees of freedom. The fluctuating wind speed is assumed to be a stochastic process which is identified by an appropriate power spectral density function. Random vibration analyses were carried out to determine response statistics. The possible application of TMDs in suppressing wind‐induced motions of the tower was investigated, and a TMD was designed to be installed at the sky dome. The results clearly show that the designed TMD has a considerable influence on the suppression of the structural response of the tower below human comfort limits. The authors believe that Milad Tower can be considered as a benchmark control problem for television and telecommunication towers by the structural control community. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.