Model Validation for the Wind Response of Modular High-Rise Buildings through Full Scale Monitoring

Abstract

For many tall building forms, habitability requirements associated with excessive acceleration response become a governing design criterion as building heights increase. This study considers the wind-induced acceleration response of tall modular buildings and validates computational model predictions using recorded acceleration responses obtained from full-scale monitoring of high-rise buildings. The modelled mechanical behaviour of these steel framed module and RC core buildings and their predicted acceleration response, natural frequency and damping ratio are compared to the actual measured responses. The acceleration response of a full-scale tall modular building experiencing ambient wind excitation is obtained through a monitoring campaign employing two triaxial accelerometers located at the top of the structure, a data acquisition system and a data storage system; wind speed and direction are also recorded. The acceleration response is processed using modal identification techniques to obtain the natural frequency and damping ratio of the completed structure. The acceleration response, natural frequencies and damping ratios are then compared to the outputs from a previously developed ETABS model of the structure. The comparison between the model and the full-scale monitoring campaign provides insight into model accuracy and identifies opportunities for further refinement of the modelling of tall modular buildings to reduce model size, run time and computational expense, without loss of accuracy in wind-induced response prediction. The validation of the model supports structural optimisation analyses and the numerical investigations required to include vibration response mitigation measures in future designs