Impact of a Fifty-Year-Recurrence Super Typhoon on Skyscrapers in Hong Kong: Large-Scale Field Monitoring Study

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of Super Typhoon Mangkhut on Hong Kong, especially the wind effects on high-rise buildings, based on 24-h-long field measurement records collected from the two tallest skyscrapers (484 and 420 m in height) in the metropolis and six meteorological stations on different types of terrain on September 16, 2018. Mangkhut corresponded to a 50-year return period and was the most violent typhoon since wind records in Hong Kong began in 1946. In this large-scale monitoring study, the wind characteristics of Mangkhut over different terrains are investigated using the climate records by anemometers and a weather surveillance radar, the wind-excited structural responses of the monitored skyscrapers are analyzed according to measurements by accelerometers and a global navigation satellite system, the structural dynamic properties are estimated by the random decrement technique and the Bayesian spectral density approach, and both rigid and aeroelastic modeling techniques for wind tunnel testing are validated by in-situ measurements during the typhoon. This study aims to enhance the understanding of strong typhoon-generated wind characteristics over different terrains and provide comprehensive information for the wind-resistant design of high-rise buildings in tropical cyclone-prone regions.