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The Damped Outrigger Concept For Tall Buildings: Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501-517 (2007)
The Damped Outrigger Concept For Tall Buildings: Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501-517 (2007)
The Damped Outrigger Concept For Tall Buildings: Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501-517 (2007)
SUMMARY
This paper describes new concepts for the structural design of high-rise buildings, in which a system is introduced
to increase the dependable structural damping by a factor of 5–10. By so doing the dynamic response of the
building to wind effects (buffeting and vortex shedding) is virtually eliminated, leading to substantially reduced
lateral design forces and assured occupant comfort. Substantial reductions in structural member size and construc-
tion cost savings can be realized in many cases. This may significantly improve the economic viability and
sustainability of a development. The paper describes some means by which high levels of damping may be
achieved and is illustrated by an implementation on a building, currently under construction, subjected to wind
and seismic excitation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Dynamic response of tall buildings
It is often found, particularly for very slender buildings, that the dynamic resonant response of
the structure to incident wind gusts and from vortex shedding leads to a significant increase
in the strength that has to be provided in the lateral resisting structure. It is also common for the
predicted wind-induced sway motion of a building to be excessive for human comfort, and this may
require the dynamic response to be reduced. In seismic regions, earthquakes also induce strong
lateral motions, and reduction of the lateral dynamic response is desirable in this case to reduce
damage levels.
The dynamic response of a tall building is governed by a number of factors including shape,
stiffness, mass and the damping. While the effect of shape can be assessed by wind tunnel
testing, and the mass and stiffness can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by the structural
designer, the intrinsic damping of tall buildings is low and the guidance available shows huge
variance.
By adding an engineered supplementary damping system to a building, it is possible to remove
dependence on the low and uncertain intrinsic damping. This improves the reliability of dynamic
response predictions and, by supplying higher levels of damping, substantially reduces the required
stiffness of the building while at the same time improving performance.
This paper describes methods by which high levels of dependable damping may be introduced into
high-rise building structures, and the benefits that may be realized.
*Correspondence to: Michael R Willford, Arup, 13 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BQ, UK. E-mail: michael.willford@arup.
com
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 503
The uncertainty and variability in the data present risks for building design. It is advisable to select
a conservative value for the damping and to design the structure accordingly, but this in not always
done. Many practitioners and wind tunnel laboratories recommend damping levels in the range 1–2%
of critical, and while this might be appropriate for many buildings lower than 200 m, it could be a
factor of two too high for taller buildings.
While the main objective of adding damping via specially engineered components is to reduce
building motion and in some cases design forces, a side effect is that the uncertainty in damping level
can also be reduced.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
504 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
two points on a structure and operate on the relative motion between those two points. They are best
located to connect two points having significant relative displacement in the mode of concern. These
devices do not require frequency tuning, and while there is an optimum resistance characteristic for
each application, the overall damping achieved is usually not very sensitive to the exact resistance
characteristic of the device. It is therefore sometimes possible to damp several modes with one device,
provided the two points it connects have significant relative movement in each of the several vibrating
modes of the structure.
A number of generic types are available, all of which operate upon the relative motion between
their ends. Such devices have been used to reduce seismic damage in bridges and buildings, and also
to reduce vibrations on large machine foundations. Components may be categorized under the follow-
ing headings:
• Viscoelastic dampers
• Fluid viscous dampers
• Viscous pot and plate dampers
• Friction dampers
Viscoelastic dampers are devices in which layers of special high-damping solid polymers are deformed
in shear under the cyclic motions between the two ends of the device. An early example of their use
in building structures was in the World Trade Center towers in New York. These devices respond
linearly at small strains, although the stiffness and damping properties of these materials are frequency
and temperature sensitive.
Fluid viscous dampers are piston-type devices with arrangements of seals and piston orifices to
provide a resistance force as a function of velocity between the two ends of the device. Different
manufacturers supply a wide variety of devices, operating at high or low fluid pressure and generally
having non-linear force versus velocity relationships of the form F = Cva, with a in the range 0·4–2·0.
These devices have previously been used for seismic applications (Higashino and Okamoto, 2006)
and in bracing arrangements for retrofitting buildings (McNamara et al., 2003).
Viscous pot and plate dampers are similar to viscoelastic devices but using high-viscosity fluids in
shear rather than solid viscoelastics.
Friction dampers rely upon the friction between two suitable surfaces having a compressive force
maintained between them. Energy is dissipated in sliding frictional resistance once the static friction
limit has been overcome.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 505
sufficient, the reduction in dynamic lateral response (lateral force) more than compensates for the
reduction of static stiffness and strength, resulting in a more economic design.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
506 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
Short outriggers
/corbels
Vertically acting
dampers
Shear walls
• the flexural and shear stiffness of the various core or wall elements;
• the axial stiffness of the perimeter columns and their distance from the core;
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 507
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
508 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
taller buildings resonant dynamic response under wind can become very significant and will lead to
unacceptable motions for occupant comfort.
Motions are conventionally controlled by stiffening the structure. The effect can be seen graphically
in Figure 8 obtained by processing wind tunnel high-frequency force balance measurements for a
400 m high tower. Here, overturning moment and acceleration are plotted against building natural
period for different levels of damping. For a building without supplementary damping, intrinsic
damping of 0·8% has been assumed, consistent with Figure 1. In this case, the natural period needs
to be reduced to approximately 7 s to meet the ISO acceleration criteria. The corresponding overturn-
ing moment is approximately 23 000 MN m.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 509
ζ = 0.8 %
ζ = 2.0 %
20000 T
X
10000 V
0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Period of Oscillation (s)
ζζ = 0.8 %
ζ = 2.0 %
40
Peak Acceleration (milli-g)
ζ = 5.0 %
20 X
T V
10
0
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Period of Oscillation (s)
Figure 8. Sensitivity of dynamic response for different damping systems applied to 400 m high tower. Results
are taken from a wind tunnel test. Lateral accelerations are for the top of the building during a 10-year storm.
Location is in a typhoon region. X, undamped; T, tuned mass damper; V, viscous damper
However, in order to mitigate against the risk of catastrophic damper failure, in this case we would
recommend designing for a slightly higher overturning moment of 14 000 MN m. See later discussion
on reliability.
4. DESIGN PROCEDURE
There are two sets of tasks which need to be performed to design a damping system.
4.1 Choose required stiffness and damping level for the building
For a building of a given size, shape and mass, the dynamic performance is governed by the stiffness
and damping. By varying these, it is possible to plot the dependence of structural loads and lateral
accelerations on these properties. These predictions are ideally made using either wind tunnel test data
(typically results from a high-frequency force balance test), or from an empirical method such as that
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
510 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
in the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC). Typical sensitivity graphs are shown in Figure 8.
Here stiffness is characterized by natural period.
4.2 Design damping system, estimate damping and optimize structural stiffness
Viscous dampers are ideally located between elements having high stiffness and which, unconnected,
experience high relative movement. Suitable locations are typically at the ends of outriggers, between
shear walls and in diagonal braces. Note that the latter case is usually suited to frame buildings.
Damping is calculated using the ‘direct solution’ finite element analysis methods described previ-
ously. It is necessary to iterate the viscous resistance (C value) of the dampers to determine its optimum
value.
The damper locations and resistances and the global structural stiffness can then be optimized either
by manual trial and error or by automated techniques. Once this is done, the structural loading based
on the earlier sensitivity analysis can be reassessed. Strength and deflection checks then need to be
reperformed.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 511
5.4 Robustness
As long as dampers are supplied by a reputable manufacturer and are routinely inspected and main-
tained, they are extremely unlikely to fail during their lifetime. However, this possibility must be
anticipated and any unacceptable consequences mitigated. By providing a number of separate damper
units to provide the overall damping resistance the effect of the possible failure of a proportion of the
units can be controlled.
Figure 9 shows the dependence of the overall overturning moment on a building with the overall
viscous resistance of the damper system. It can be seen that there is an optimum resistance, but that
providing a resistance somewhat greater than optimum does not increase the moment significantly. By
providing more than the optimum overall viscous resistance through a significant number of indi-
vidual units, it can be seen that failure of some of those units (reducing the total resistance) will have
little overall effect on the building’s performance.
6
Overturning Moment [GNm]
2
Design value
0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
C coefficient of dampers [MNs/m]
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
512 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
F = Cvα
where a is between 0·1 and 2. This is done by altering the shapes and sizes of the various orifices
within the damper cavity. The choice of exponent depends on a number of factors:
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 513
• Limit the degree to which dampers are used to reduce the moments for strength design to M damped >
rMundamped, where M = overturning moment and r is a reduction factor. This limitation ensures that
in the case of total damper failure the building will remain standing in the design wind. The reduc-
tion factor should be considered on a case-by-case basis, but should consider the likely material
overstrength, the acceptable reduction in load factor and suitable intrinsic damping ratios. The likely
value is in the region of r = 0·5−0·7. This limitation need not be applied to deflection checks.
• Ensure that dampers are of high integrity with minimal servicing.
6. DESIGN EXAMPLE
This example is a development of two similar residential buildings 210 m tall and approximately 38 m
square in plan located in a region of typhoon winds and UBC Zone 4 seismic conditions. Each build-
ing has a reinforced concrete core (coupled in one direction) and an irregular arrangement of perim-
eter columns and walls. One level of double storey height outriggers is present at approximately half
the overall height.
This section considers the load effects in one direction of one tower only. At the time of writing
this building is under construction, with the viscous dampers manufactured and awaiting test.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
514 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
return period was taken for strength design. Following initial design, wind tunnel testing was used
to better quantify the wind loading. Alongside the wind tunnel tests, a directional climate study
was performed. This made a significant difference to the final assessment of wind-induced
response.
Considering one load direction only, the base overturning moments were as shown in Table 1. Two
observations can be made from comparing this table with the code loading table:
• The undamped wind overturning moment predicted by wind tunnel testing is more than the ASCE
prediction but less than the NBCC.
• The use of dampers alongside a climate study has reduced the overturning moment by 50%, repre-
senting a significant reduction in load and associated structural cost.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 515
Two dampers per wall were chosen rather than one, for the following reasons:
• cheaper to supply;
• easier to install;
• greater redundancy.
Behaviour of damper
The damper has a non-linear characteristic described below:
F = C1v 2
F = F1 + C2 v 0 ⋅1
This change in behaviour was chosen to prevent overload caused by extreme seismic demands and is
implemented by the use of a pressure release valve. The threshold force F1 is the maximum force seen
in the dampers during wind loading.
At low levels of damper velocity the force mobilized is very low. This reduces the working pressure
within the damper, increases the lifetime of the moving components and reduces susceptibility to
fatigue. The damping system provides more damping when the wind loading approaches the maximum
design levels.
Damping achieved
The additional damping achieved in each direction for 100-year wind varied between 5·2% and 11·2%
of critical for the two buildings and two principal directions.
7. ECONOMIC BENEFIT
In the case of this development, the construction cost saving (for construction in the Philippines) made
by use of dampers, alongside performance-based seismic design, was approximately US $5 million.
This cost saving is net of the cost of the dampers themselves. The quantity of concrete in the buildings
was reduced by 30%, and the net floor area increased by about 2%.
The reinforcement density in the towers was reduced from an average of 300 kg/m3 to approximately
200 kg/m3, this largely as a result of adopting performance-based seismic design.
Benefits of a similar order have been made on other projects using this technology.
8. CONCLUSIONS
This paper presents a new philosophy for the design of high-rise buildings where damped outriggers
or variants thereof are used to introduce a high level of dependable supplemental damping for the
primary purpose of reducing dynamic wind effects.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
516 R. J. SMITH AND M. R. WILLFORD
Significant economic savings can be made by introducing damping in this way because the lateral
stiffness of a high-rise building can be reduced, thereby reducing the element sizes and material
content, without any adverse effect. In addition, the cost and space requirements for tuned mass
dampers are eliminated. The application can be used to control response from both wind and seismic
loading, but in both cases non-standard analytical techniques are required in the design process.
The practicalities of designing and maintaining such a system are discussed and clear economic
benefits shown.
REFERENCES
Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines. 2001. National Structural Code of the Philippines
(NSCP).
FEMA. 2000. Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, FEMA 356, Federal
Emergency Management Agency: Washington DC.
Higashino M, Okamoto S (editors), CIB Task Group 44. 2006. Response Control and Seismic Isolation of Build-
ings. Taylor and Francis, Oxford.
McNamara RJ, Taylor DP. 2003. Fluid Viscous Dampers for High-Rise Buildings. Structural Design of Tall and
Special Buildings. 12: 145–154.
National Research Council Canada. 2005. National Building Code of Canada (NBCC).
Tamura, Y. 2006. Amplitude Dependency of Damping in Building and Estimation Techniques Keynote lecture,
12th Australasian Wind Engineering Conference, Queenstown, New Zealand, Jan 31–Feb 2 2006.
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THE DAMPED OUTRIGGER CONCEPT FOR TALL BUILDINGS 517
Li QS, Xiao YQ, Wong CK, Jeary AP. 2003. Field measurements of wind effects on the tallest building in Hong
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an air traffic control tower. Journal of Engineering Structures 28: 1060–1070.
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in Japan. Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE 129: 470–477.
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Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 16, 501–517 (2007)
DOI: 10.1002/tal