Water world
PARK IMPERIAL BUILDING
Manhattan, NY
A novel idea was developed by the
principals of ADGI in conjunction with motioneering inc. Of Canada to control
the human perception to building motion. IT may be surprising to lay observer,
but all tall buildings sway to a certain degree under high winds. Although it is
structurally safe but the motion, if not properly controlled, can create a
feeling of boat ride under certain conditions. Making the building more rigid is
an easy but costly solution. Structural Engineers, in the past, have used large
metal masses near the top of the Building, called mass dampers. To mitigate the
motions, these dampers either sway as pendulums or float on oil films in the
opposite direction to the building motion, thus producing a counter balancing
force. At the park imperial building near central park in Manhattan, water
towers were used to produce the same effect at a substantially less cost. Two
water tanks hold 717 tons of water at the top of the building. The chambers, of
specified dimensions, are "tuned" to the building mass and frequencies.
The drag of the water through the sluice gate converts wind induced energy into heat energy and dissipates it into the water. This action reduces the building acceleration below 15 milli-g (desired limit for residential units) from over 25 milli-g without this system. It is possible to use such stored water can be used for emergency fire systems as well as chilled water storage in future buildings.
This project was undertaken by ADGI Principals while working with another firm
PARK IMPERIAL BUILDING
Manhattan, NY
A novel idea was developed by the
principals of ADGI in conjunction with motioneering inc. Of Canada to control
the human perception to building motion. IT may be surprising to lay observer,
but all tall buildings sway to a certain degree under high winds. Although it is
structurally safe but the motion, if not properly controlled, can create a
feeling of boat ride under certain conditions. Making the building more rigid is
an easy but costly solution. Structural Engineers, in the past, have used large
metal masses near the top of the Building, called mass dampers. To mitigate the
motions, these dampers either sway as pendulums or float on oil films in the
opposite direction to the building motion, thus producing a counter balancing
force. At the park imperial building near central park in Manhattan, water
towers were used to produce the same effect at a substantially less cost. Two
water tanks hold 717 tons of water at the top of the building. The chambers, of
specified dimensions, are "tuned" to the building mass and frequencies.
The drag of the water through the sluice gate converts wind induced energy into heat energy and dissipates it into the water. This action reduces the building acceleration below 15 milli-g (desired limit for residential units) from over 25 milli-g without this system. It is possible to use such stored water can be used for emergency fire systems as well as chilled water storage in future buildings.
This project was undertaken by ADGI Principals while working with another firm