Study on Wind-Induced Human Comfort of the SEG Plaza under Local Excitation Based on Wind Tunnel Test

Abstract

Multiple unusual vibrations occurred in SEG Plaza from May 18 to 20, 2021. To investigate the causes of these vibrations, a rigidity compression wind tunnel test was applied to study the wind-induced response of the main structure, and acceleration sensitivity analysis was conducted with parameters such as wind speed, structural period and damping ratio included. Additionally, the mast vortex-induced resonance equivalent force of reaction in the bottom was exerted on the top of the structure to obtain the acceleration response of the main structure with mast. Based on the evaluation of the vibration response of the structure before and after considering the mast as per the current specifications, it is indicated that the base overturning moment of the structure is much smaller than the specification value excluding the factor of mast, and the acceleration response varies significantly with wind pressure, structural frequency and damping ratio, but the centroid acceleration and the angular acceleration meet the comfort requirements. This indicates that the wind load on the main structure is not the dominant cause of the structural vibration. With the mast taken into account, the acceleration response of the structure exceeds the limits of the comfort level to varying degrees. For a mast damping ratio of 0.3%, the maximum angular acceleration exceeds the H-90 limit and the comfort level is poor. These findings provide considerable evidence that the dominant cause of vibration in the SEG Plaza was the vortex resonance of the top mast inducing higher mode resonance in the main structure.