The role of the aerodynamic modifications of the shapes of tall buildings

With the advances in technology, recent tall building design has undergone a shift to the free-style geometric forms in the exuberant and liberal atmosphere. As a height of the building increases, it is more susceptible to vibration caused by wind because of its asymmetric distribution of mass and stiffness, increased flexibility and insufficient inherent damping. This wind-induced motion, in particular crosswind response, endangers the dynamic response of tall structures, the performance of cladding and window, and the habitability of occupants. Therefore, much research on mitigating wind induced excitations of tall buildings has been carried out. This thesis focuses on the effect of shape modification on the wind flow pattern around tall buildings. An appropriate choice of this architectural modification can significantly reduce aeroelastic instabilities. Four aerodynamic modifications to reduce wind-induced responses of a tall building, such as a basic square model, a corner recession model, a 3- step setback model, and a 180 degree helical model, are evaluated through commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) software, STAR-CD and compared with results from wind tunnel tests. Based on this comparison, the optimal model to effectively mitigate adverse wind excitations is recommended.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Jooeun, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jerome J. Connor.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66869

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/66869