Monitoring Structural Performance of a Supertall Building during 14 Tropical Cyclones

Abstract

Field measurements of wind effects on a 420-meter-high supertall building in Hong Kong were analyzed during the passages of 14 tropical cyclone (TC) events, from 2008 to 2016, with a total recording time duration of 360 h. In this paper, statistical results of wind characteristics of these TCs are presented and discussed; modal parameters of the building such as natural frequencies and damping ratios are estimated using the random decrement technique, which is a deterministic time domain method, as well as the Bayesian spectral density approach, which is a recently proposed probabilistic frequency domain method; and the serviceability of the skyscraper during these violent TC events are evaluated against three comfort criteria. This study uses a substantial amount of field data to yield accurate estimations of the modal parameters of the building to further the understanding of wind effects on supertall buildings in TC-prone regions to provide useful information for their wind-resistant designs.