Investigation on the efficiency of deep liquid tanks in controlling dynamic response of high-rise buildings: A computational framework

High-rise buildings are subjected to large deflection when exposed to environmental loading due to cyclones or earthquakes. Different methodologies are available to control such excessive deflections. The present work explores the utilization of liquid storage service tanks placed at the roof of the high-rise buildings in the form of passive damping devices in controlling unwanted vibration. These deep liquid tanks (DLTs) have a higher depth ratio than the conventional tuned liquid dampers (TLDs). A 10-storeyed reinforced concrete (RC) building model, square shaped, symmetric in plan, is considered for the numerical assessment. A multiple TLD (MTLD) system is designed to control the roof displacement of the building. This MTLD system is then replaced by a single DLT, which provides slightly better control efficiency under resonant harmonic loading. The system coupling facility of ANSYS Workbench provides fluid structure interaction (FSI) platform to solve structure-fluid coupled dynamics. ANSYS Transient Structural module is used to solve the structure part using the finite element analysis (FEA), whereas, ANSYS (FLUENT) for the fluid part using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The focus of the work is to develop a practical framework to demonstrate the efficacy of such liquid storage tanks considering the FSI effect using coupled FEA-CFD analysis. The aim is to arrive at an appropriate damper efficiency considering the position and size of the DLT with different liquid filling level. The selected DLT, along with the position is replaced by distributed deep liquid tanks (DDLTs), conserving the overall mass of the damper (liquid). It is observed that the DDLT may not be an effective alternative to the single DLT device. In specific cases, properly designed DLTs can be recommended over MTLD system as effective damping devices for vibration mitigation purposes in high-rise buildings.

Automated summary

This study investigates the use of liquid storage tanks placed at the roof of high-rise buildings as passive damping devices for controlling unwanted vibration. Through numerical assessment and coupled FEA-CFD analysis, it is found that properly designed deep liquid tanks can be an effective damping device for high-rise buildings.