The damping efficiency of vortex-induced vibration by tuned-mass damper of a tower-supported steel stack

Many tower-supported steel stacks have been constructed in Japan, primarily for economic reasons. However the dynamic behavior of these stacks under a strong wind is not well known and the wind load design standard for this type of a stack has not yet been formulated. In light of this situation, we carried out wind response observation of an operating tower-supported steel stack with and without a tuned-mass damper. The observation revealed the performance of the tuned-mass damper installed on the stack in order to control the wind-induced vibration. Based on the observed data, we performed a wind tunnel test of a specimen of the stack. In this paper we report the results of the wind tunnel test and some comparisons with the results of observation. Our findings are as follows: 1) the tuned-mass damper installed on the specimen in the wind tunnel test worked as well as the one on the observed stack, 2) the amplitude of the vortex-induced vibration of the specimen corresponded approximately to that of the observed stack, and 3) correlation between Scruton number and reduced amplitude, y/d, (y is amplitude, d is diameter) was confirmed by both the wind tunnel test and the observed results.