Comparison of wind‐induced dynamic property of super‐large cooling tower considering different four‐tower interferences

Dynamic amplification effects caused by tower-group interference is the most critical causes of wind-induced destructions of super-large cooling tower (SLCT), and four-tower combinations are the most common tower-group combining form. However, the dynamic amplification effects of SLCT of different four-tower arrangements have not been studied systematically so far. The highest (220 m) SLCT in the world was taken as the target to conduct SLCT wind pressure measurement under 320 wind tunnel test conditions. Firstly, the stability performance under the design wind loads was analyzed. Then, the dynamic time-history analysis was carried out, and the distribution characteristics of peak factors and values of extreme response were discussed. Furthermore, with a new concept parameter "tower-group wind vibration coefficient" for the wind-resistance design of SLCT, the distribution laws of two-dimensional (2D), one-dimensional (1D), and global tower-group wind vibration coefficient were revealed under different four-tower interferences. On these bases, we recommend the design parameters for wind-resistance study of SLCT and the priority of four-tower combination forms. The study showed that the dynamic effects of SLCT under different four-tower arrangements were significantly different from each other and the tower-group wind vibration coefficients proposed in this paper can reflect the interference effects of tower-group more efficient than traditional design method. The results may become a useful database for the wind-resistance design of SLCT and provide clues for the optimization of four-tower arrangements in power plants.