Ambient Vibration Testing of Two Highly Irregular Tall Buildings in Shanghai

This paper presents the detailed experiment setups and data analysis results of the ambient vibration testing of two irregular high-rise buildings done by a joint research team from the University of British Columbia and Tongji University. Two full-scale tests were conducted in May 2015 at the Siping Campus of Tongji University, Shanghai, China. The first Multi-Functional Building (MFB) has 21 stories with a typical floor height of 4 m. The structure shows significant irregularity in both plane and vertical direction, where every three floors combine into one L-shaped unit and the L-shape floor rotates 90° along the height of the building. The second building tested is the Shanghai International Design Center (SIDC). SIDC is an h-shape asymmetry double tower structure consists of main tower (25 story) and secondary tower (12 story). The two towers are rigidly connected with steel truss system between the 11th and 12th floors. Considering the complexities and irregularities of the two buildings, it is essential to study their dynamic properties and the associated principal modes of vibration. Several modal analysis techniques were adopted to determine the modal parameters of two buildings.