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Wind Induced Motion in Tall Buildings

A tall building in a city

 

Research Pillar: Healthy and Inclusive Places

Project Name/Title/Acronym: Controlling the Wind-Induced Vibration Response of Modular High Rise Buildings


Funding Body: Irish Research Council (IRC) and Barrett Mahoney Consulting Engineers (BMCE) through the IRC employment-based postgraduate program.

Project Timeframe: 2020-2025

Project Description:

  • Tall buildings experience wind induced motion which can result in serviceability and habitability issues associated with occupant discomfort and nausea. The construction of modular residential towers in which volumetric modules are assembled around a reinforced concrete core offers significant economic, environmental and safety advantages. However, these structures can be particularly susceptible to wind induced accelerations due to the tall slender form of the core and the small and uncertain contribution of the modules to global lateral stiffness and damping. This project investigation the acceleration response of modular towers using field measurements and computational modelling, and evaluates potential mitigation measures including the use of tuned liquid dampers.

 

Publications:

  • 'Experimental and computational evaluation of modal identification techniques for structural damping estimation', Proc 2nd International Conf on Civil and Environmental Engineering (ICCEE) (2022),  [Moore, H, Broderick, B.M. and Fitzgerald, B.]
  • ‘Mitigation of wind-induced accelerations in tall modular buildings’, Structures (accepted for publication, 2022),  [Hickey, J., Broderick, B.M. Fitzgerald, B. and Moore, H.]

 

Presentations:

  • Slipformed Cores in High Rise Hybrid Structures and Dynamic Response to Wind Loads, Institution of Structural Engineers, Dublin, 10th March 2020.

Research on this topic directly addresses the SDG of sustainable cities and communities as it seeks to extend technology use to the provision of urban residential accommodation using novel construction techniques. It contributes to the TrinityHaus research pillar of Healthy and Inclusive Places as its results will reduce nausea symptoms experienced by the occupants of tall buildings during strong wind events, and to the Climate Action and Sustainability research pillar as it will also lead to structures with smaller carbon footprints.

If you would like more information on this research project, please contact Project Supervisors Prof. Brian Broderick (bbrodrck@tcd.ie) and Dr. Breiffni Fitzgerald (BREIFFNI.FITZGERALD@tcd.ie).