WIND-INDUCED RESPONSE ANALYSIS FOR LARGE COOLING TOWER WITH THREE TYPICAL MERIDIAN CURVES

This paper studies the influence of different meridian curves of a large hyperbolic cooling tower on the wind-induced response and the stability performance, by modeling in finite elements according to engineering situations, with considerations of the effect of the tower height, the wall thickness and the air intake height on the dynamic behavior of the structure and the wind-induced response. The influence mechanism for different curve types is analyzed and the wind-induced responses of the tower barrel and the pillar are compared under standard wind loads. Besides, the influence of the linear change on the cooling tower overall and local stability is also explored. It is shown that the optimization of the meridian curve is necessary. A little "shorter and fatter" tower type enjoys a higher structure fundamental frequency, but its wind load-carrying properties and stability are not as satisfactory as a "tall and slim" towel type. Furthermore, its displacement response is larger.