Wind Effects of Super High-Rise Buildings in the Pearl River Delta of China Based on 10-Year Full-Scale Measurements

Abstract

The Pearl River Delta of China, which is considerably affected by typhoons, has many super high-rise buildings. Based on data recorded by the authors and other scholars over the last 10 years, the wind-induced responses and modal parameters of super-tall buildings in this area during typhoons are summarized and investigated in this study. Furthermore, wind tunnel experiments were conducted involving a typical super high-rise building to explore its wind resistance performance, and the test results were compared with measurement results. The results indicate that the building response was positively correlated with the typhoon strength and building height overall, but lower rectangular buildings without aerodynamic optimization measures could experience more noticeable vibrations. The dominant wind direction in the Pearl River Delta is the east and adjacent directions, and the maximum building vibrations mainly occur along the north–south direction, that is, cross-wind vibrations. The fundamental sway frequency measurement results of the buildings are generally greater than the finite-element modeling (FEM) results, and the fundamental frequency is positively correlated with the reciprocal of the building height. A stratification phenomenon is observed according to the variation in frequency with acceleration, and the damping ratios in the low-acceleration range are scattered, whereas both the fundamental sway frequencies and damping ratios exhibit obvious regularity over time and are correlated with the wind speed. The wind tunnel test results are suitably consistent with full-scale measurements. The narrow side of super-tall buildings with rectangular or quasirectangular plane configurations in the Pearl River Delta should be prevented from facing the east and adjacent directions.