Tuned mass dampers for high rise buildings- a case study

Authors

  • M.P. Sacks Tacet Eng. Ltd., Toronto, Ont., Canada
  • J.C. Swallow

Keywords:

damping, flexible structures, structural engineering, vibration control, tuned mass dampers, high rise buildings, Chifley Tower, winds, vibration modes, torsion mode, translational modes, 4 to 6 sec

Abstract

The Chifley Tower in Sydney, Australia is a 46 story, 275 meter high steel structure, which is rare in Australia. Being steel it is lighter and more flexible than an all-concrete design. The building is wedge shaped with curved external surfaces and numerous setbacks and transfers. The design wind condition was 155 km per hour. These winds could drive the building in any one of three coupled translation and torsion vibration modes whose natural periods ranged from 4 seconds to 6 seconds. The predicted horizontal acceleration on the upper floors was 0.3 m/second2 and 0.5 m/second2 in 5 and 50 year return winds. The horizontal displacement in the 50 year wind was 0.47 meters. The assumed damping of the structure was approximately 1.5%. Calculations indicated a 2% modal mass TMD with 14% of critical internal damping would result in 0.15 and 0.26 m/second2 accelerations in 5 and 50 in return winds. The effective damping of the structure would be 4.2%. The function of the TMD is to provide greater comfort for building occupants. It is not required for the structural integrity of the building. The TMD is required to operate in any direction but since the torsion mode was coupled to the translational modes no twisting motion of the TMD is required. A passive TMD was chosen because of its inherent simplicity and reliability. The passive TMD requires no external power and its operation is initiated by the wind-induced motion of the building

Additional Files

Published

1994-09-01

How to Cite

1.
Sacks M, Swallow J. Tuned mass dampers for high rise buildings- a case study. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 1994 Sep. 1 [cited 2026 May 1];22(3):165-6. Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/901

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 3 (1994)

Section

Proceedings of the Acoustics Week in Canada

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