• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.619-629
• /
• 2014

As hyperboloidal cooling towers (HCTs) growing larger and slender, they become more sensitive to gust wind. To improve the dynamic properties of HCTs and to improve the wind resistance capability, stiffening rings have been studied and applied. Although there have been some findings, the influence mechanism of stiffening rings on the dynamic properties is still not fully understood. Based on some fundamental perceptions on the dynamic properties of HCTs and free ring structures, a concept named "participation degree" of stiffening rings was proposed and the influence mechanism on the dynamic properties was illustrated. The "participation degree" is determined by the modal deform amplitude and latitude wave number of stiffening rings. Larger modal deform amplitude and more latitude waves can both result in higher participation degree and more improvement to eigenfrequencies. Also, this concept can explain and associate the pre-existing independent findings.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.579-601
• /
• 2013

Interference effects are of considerable concern for group hyperboloidal cooling towers, but evaluation methods and results are different from each other because of the insufficient understanding on the structure behavior. Therefore, the mechanical performance of hyperboloidal cooling tower shell under wind loads was illustrated according to some basic properties drawn from horizontal rings and cantilever beams. The hyperboloidal cooling tower shell can be regarded as the coupling of horizontal rings and meridian cantilever beams, and this perception is beneficial for understanding the mechanical performance under wind loads. Afterwards, the mean external latitude wind pressure distribution, CP(${\theta}$), was artificially adjusted to pursue the relationship between different CP(${\theta}$) and wind-induced responses. It was found that the maximum responses in hyperboloidal cooling tower shell are primarily dominated by the non-uniformity of CP(${\theta}$) but not the local pressure amplitude CP or overall resistance/drag coefficient CD. In all the internal forces, the maximum amplitude of meridian axial tension shows remarkable sensitivity to the variation of CP(${\theta}$) and it's also the controlling force in structure design, so it was selected as an indicator to evaluate the influence of CP(${\theta}$) on responses. Based on its sensitivity to different adjustment parameters of CP(${\theta}$), an comprehensive response influence factor, RIF, was deduced to assess the meridian axial tension for arbitrary CP(${\theta}$).