Investigation of the Aerodynamic Forces on a 600-m-High Supertall Building by Field Measurements and Wind Tunnel Test

Abstract

This paper investigates the aerodynamic forces on a 600-m-high supertall building based on field measurements during Super Typhoon Mangkhut and wind tunnel test on a 1∶500 scaled model of the monitored building. The local wind force coefficients and their power spectral densities obtained by the full-scale measurements and the model experiment are compared and discussed. The comparative study shows that the wind tunnel test provides conservative mean local drag coefficients and root-mean-square (RMS) local lift coefficients, whereas for the RMS local drag coefficients, the model experiment reproduces smaller predictions at higher levels than those from the onsite measurements. Moreover, to explore the deviations between the full-scale and model-scale results, the Reynolds number effects in the range of 5.5×104 to 1.8×108 on the local wind forces and the Strouhal number are investigated. It is found that the Reynolds number has evident effects on the local wind force coefficients, although its influence on the Strouhal number is negligible. This combined study of field measurements and wind tunnel test aims to enhance the understanding of the aerodynamic forces on high-rise buildings during strong windstorms and provide useful information for the wind-resistant design of supertall buildings.