Experimental and numerical investigations on seismic performance of a super tall steel tower

This paper presents experimental and numerical study on seismic performance of a super tall steel tower structure. The steel tower, with a height of 388 meters, employs a steel space truss with spiral steel columns to serve as its main lateral load resisting system. Moreover, this space truss was surrounded by the spiral steel columns to form a steel mega system in order to support a 12-story platform building which is located from the height of 230 meters to 263 meters. A 1/40 scaled model for this tower structure was made and tested on shake table under a series of one- and two-dimensional earthquake excitations with gradually increasing acceleration amplitudes. The test model performed elastically up to the seismic excitations representing the earthquakes with a return period of 475 years, and the test model also survived with limited damages under the seismic excitations representing the earthquakes with a return period 2475 years. A finite element model for the prototype structure was further developed and verified. It was noted that the model predictions on dynamic properties and displacement responses agreed reasonably well with test results. The maximum inter-story drift of the tower structure was obtained, and the stress in the steel members was investigated. Results indicated that larger displacement responses were observed for the section from the height of 50 meters to 100 meters in the tower structure. For structural design, applicable measures should be adopted to increase the stiffness and ductility for this section in order to avoid excessive deformations, and to improve the serviceability of the prototype structure.