Aerodyanmic and Response Characteristics of Supertall Buildings with Various Configurations

Tall buildings have been traditionally designed to be symmetric rectangular, triangular or circular in plan, in order to avoid excessive seismic-induced torsional vibrations due to eccentricity, especially in seismic-prone regions like Japan. However, recent tall building design has been released from the spell of compulsory symmetric shape design, and free-style design is increasing. This is mainly due to architects’ and structural designers’ challenging demands for novel and unconventional expressions. Another important aspect is that rather complicated sectional shapes are basically good with regard to aerodynamic properties for across-wind excitations, which are a key issue in super-tall-building wind-resistant design. The authors’ group has conducted a series of wind tunnel experiments for super-tall buildings with various configurations. The present paper summarizes the main findings including variations in peak pressures, aerodynamic and response characteristics, wind load combination effects, and flow field characteristics by CFD. The results of these experiments have led to comprehensive understanding of the aerodynamic and response characteristics of super-tall buildings with various configurations and cross-sections.