Monitoring of wind effects on a super-tall building during multiple typhoons and validation of wind tunnel testing techniques

Abstract

Wind effects on high-rise buildings have always been a major concern in structural engineering. This paper investigates the wind effects on a 420-meter-tall building located in Hong Kong by full-scale measurements and wind tunnel testing. Using a structural health monitoring system installed in the building, wind fields and structural responses were collected during 15 typhoons from 2008 to 2017 with a total record time length of 375 hours. In wind tunnel tests, both rigid and aeroelastic scaled models of the monitored building were employed to predict the wind-induced structural responses, and then these experimental results were compared with the field measurements for verification of the model test results. The objective of this research is to further understand the wind effects on super-tall buildings during typhoons, validate the wind tunnel testing techniques based on a large amount of field measurements obtained during multiple typhoons, and hence provide useful information for the wind-resistant design of future skyscrapers.