• Wind and Structures
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.133-147
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• 2023

The random vibration of saddle membrane structures under wind load is studied theoretically and experimentally. First, the nonlinear random vibration differential equations of saddle membrane structures under wind loads are established based on von Karman's large deflection theory, thin shell theory and potential flow theory. The probabilistic density function (PDF) and its corresponding statistical parameters of the displacement response of membrane structure are obtained by using the diffusion process theory and the Fokker Planck Kolmogorov equation method (FPK) to solve the equation. Furthermore, a wind tunnel test is carried out to obtain the displacement time history data of the test model under wind load, and the statistical characteristics of the displacement time history of the prototype model are obtained by similarity theory and probability statistics method. Finally, the rationality of the theoretical model is verified by comparing the experimental model with the theoretical model. The results show that the theoretical model agrees with the experimental model, and the random vibration response can be effectively reduced by increasing the initial pretension force and the rise-span ratio within a certain range. The research methods can provide a theoretical reference for the random vibration of the membrane structure, and also be the foundation of structural reliability of membrane structure based on wind-induced response.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.107-131
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• 2016

The need for a more affordable, reliable, clean and secure energy has led to explorations in non-traditional sources, particularly renewable energies. Wind is one of the cleanest energy sources that plays a significant role in augmenting sustainability. Wind turbines, as energy convertors, are usually tall and slender structures, and depending on their location (inland or offshore), they can be subject to high wind and/or strong wave loadings. These loads can cause severe vibrations with detrimental effects on energy production, structural lifecycle and initial cost. A dissipativity analysis study was carried out to know whether wind turbine towers require damping enhancement or rigidity modifications for vibration suppression. The results suggest that wind turbines are lightly damped structures and damping enhancement is a potential solution for vibration lessening. Accordingly, the paper investigates different damping enhancement techniques for vibration mitigation. The efficacy of tuned mass damper (TMD), tuned liquid column damper (TLCD), tuned sloshing damper (TSD), and viscous damper (VD) to reduce vibrations is investigated. A comparison among these devices, in terms of robustness and effectiveness, is conducted. The VD can reduce both displacement and acceleration responses of the tower, better than other types of dampers, for the same control effort, followed by TMD, TSD, and finally TLCD. Nevertheless, the use of VDs raises concerns about where they should be located in the structure, and their application may require additional design considerations.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2021

In recent years, there has been a tendency towards renewable energy sources considering the damages caused by non-renewable energy resources to nature and humans. One of the renewable energy sources is wind and energy is obtained with the help of wind turbines. To determine the behavior of wind turbines under earthquake loads, dynamic characteristics are required. In this study, the differential transformation method is proposed to determine the free vibration analysis of wind turbines with a variable cross-section. The wind turbine is modeled as an equivalent variable continuous flexural beam and blade weight is considered as a point mass at the top of the structures. The differential equation representing the free vibration of the wind turbine is transformed into an algebraic equation with the help of differential transformation method and the angular frequencies and the mode shapes of the wind turbine are obtained by the help of the differential transformation method. In the study, a sample taken from the literature was solved with the presented method and the suitability of the method was investigated. The same wind turbine example also modeled by finite element modelling software, ABAQUS. Results of the finite element model and differential transformation method are compared with each other and the results are in good agreement.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.561-577
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• 2013

Rational Functions are used to express the self-excited aerodynamic forces acting on a flexible structure for use in time-domain flutter analysis. The Rational Function Approximation (RFA) approach involves obtaining of these Rational Functions from the frequency-dependent flutter derivatives by using an approximation. In the past, an algorithm was developed to directly extract these Rational Functions from wind tunnel section model tests in free vibration. In this paper, an algorithm is presented for direct extraction of these Rational Functions from section model tests in forced vibration. The motivation for using forced-vibration method came from the potential use of these Rational Functions to predict aerodynamic loads and response of flexible structures at high wind speeds and in turbulent wind environment. Numerical tests were performed to verify the robustness and performance of the algorithm under different noise levels that are expected in wind tunnel data. Wind tunnel tests in one degree-of-freedom (vertical/torsional) forced vibration were performed on a streamlined bridge deck section model whose Rational Functions were compared with those obtained by free vibration for the same model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.951-968
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• 2016

Long-span cross-strait bridges extending into deep-sea waters are exposed to complex marine environments. During the construction stage, the flexible freestanding bridge towers are more vulnerable to environmental loads imposed by wind and wave loads. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the dynamic responses of a 389-m-high freestanding bridge tower model in a test facility with a wind tunnel and a wave flume. An elastic bridge model with a geometric scale of 1:150 was designed based on Froude similarity and was tested under wind-only, wave-only and wind-wave combined conditions. The dynamic responses obtained from the tests indicate that large deformation under resonant sea states could be a structural challenge. The dominant role of the wind loads and the wave loads change according to the sea states. The joint wind and wave loads have complex effects on the dynamic responses of the structure, depending on the approaching direction angle and the fluid-induced vibration mechanisms of the waves and wind.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.97-104
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• 2018

A connected control method for the adjacent buildings has been studied to reduce dynamic responses. In these studies, seismic loads were generally used as an excitation. Recently, multi-hazards loads including earthquake and strong wind loads are employed to investigate control performance of various control systems. Accordingly, strong wind load as well as earthquake load was adopted to evaluate control performance of adaptive smart coupling control system against multi-hazard. To this end, an artificial seismic load in the region of strong seismicity and an artificial wind load in the region of strong winds were generated for control performance evaluation of the coupling control system. Artificial seismic and wind excitations were made by SIMQKE and Kaimal spectrum based on ASCE 7-10. As example buildings, two 20-story and 12-story adjacent buildings were used. An MR (magnetorheological) damper was used as an adaptive smart control device to connect adjacent two buildings. In oder to present nonlinear dynamic behavior of MR damper, Bouc-Wen model was employed in this study. After parametric studies on MR damper capacity, optimal command voltages for MR damper on each seismic and wind loads were investigated. Based on numerical analyses, it was shown that the adaptive smart coupling control system proposed in this study can provide very good control performance for Multi-hazards.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.4
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• pp.379-387
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• 2023

Wind and earthquake loads may cause strong vibrations in large-span cable-stayed bridges, leading to the inability of the bridge to operate normally. An improved Pounding Tuned Mass Damper (PTMD) system was designed to improve the safety of the large-span cable-stayed bridge. The vibration control effect of the improved PTMD system on the large-span cablestayed bridge under the combined action of earthquake-wind-traffic was studied. Furthermore, the impact of different parameters on the vibration suppression performance of the improved PTMD system was analyzed. The numerical results indicate that the PTMD system is very effective in suppressing the displacements of the bridge caused by both the traffic-wind coupling and traffic-earthquake coupling. Moreover, the number, mass ratio, pounding stiffness, and gap values have a significant influence on the vibration suppression performance of the improved PTMD system. When the number of PTMD is increased from 3 to 9, the vibration reduction ratio of the vertical displacement is increased from 25.39% to 48.05%. As the mass ratio changes from 0.5% to 2%, the vibration reduction ratio increases significantly from 22.23% to 53.30%.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.5-9
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• 2013

In this study, operational vibration experiment and analysis have been conducted for the 4-blade small vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) including the effect of tower elastic behavior. Computational structural dynamics analysis method is applied to obtain Campbell diagram for the VAWT with elastic tower. An open type wind-tunnel is used to change and keep the wind velocity during the ground test. Equivalent elastic tower is used to support the VAWT so that the effect of elastic stiffness of the tower can be considered in the present vibration experiment. Various excitation conditions with wind loads are considered and the dominant operating vibration phenomena are physically investigated in detail.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.347-354
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• 2019

This study provides an approximate analytical solution to the fractional vibration problem of thin plate governing anomalous motion of plate subjected to in-plane loads. The method of variable separable is employed to transform the fractional partial differential equations under consideration into a fractional ordinary differential equation in temporal variable and a bi-harmonic plate equation in spatial variable. The technique of conformable fractional derivative is utilized to solve the resulting fractional differential equation and the approach of finite sine integral transform method is used to solve the accompanying bi-harmonic plate equation. The deflection field which measures the transverse displacement of the plate is expressed in terms of product of Bessel and trigonometric functions via the temporal and spatial variables respectively. The obtained solution reduces to the solution of the free vibration problem of thin plate in literature. This work shows that conformable fractional derivative is an efficient mathematical tool for tracking analytical solution of fractional partial differential equation governing anomalous vibration of thin plates.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.313-350
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• 2016

Taipei 101 Tower, which has 101 stories with height of 508 m, is located in Taipei where typhoons and earthquakes commonly occur. It is currently the second tallest building in the world. Therefore, the dynamic performance of the super-tall building under strong wind actions requires particular attentions. In this study, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) integrated with a new inflow turbulence generator and a new sub-grid scale (SGS) model was conducted to simulate the wind loads on the super-tall building. Three-dimensional finite element model of Taipei 101 Tower was established and used to evaluate the wind-induced responses of the high-rise structure based on the simulated wind forces. The numerical results were found to be consistent with those measured from a vibration monitoring system installed in the building. Furthermore, the equivalent static wind loads on the building, which were computed by the time-domain and frequency-domain analysis, respectively, were in satisfactory agreement with available wind tunnel testing results. It has been demonstrated through the validation studies that the numerical framework presented in this paper, including the recommended SGS model, the inflow turbulence generation technique and associated numerical treatments, is a useful tool for evaluation of the wind loads and wind-induced responses of tall buildings.