The wind around the top of the Shanghai tower has a
speed of more than 6m/s which is very good for generating
wind power. Therefore, there are 270 wind turbines located
on the top of the building which are capable of generating
about 1.19 million kWh of electricity every year and it
provides electricity for exterior lighting and public spaces.
The building was designed to collect rainwater and it is
used to flush the toilets of office areas, supplement the
outdoor landscape, irrigate plants and wash the floors. To
conserve the water resources effectively, the water treatment
system is optimized to recycle the bath wastewater
from hotel areas and toilet flushing wastewater from office
areas. These design concepts reduce the tower’s water
consumption by a considerable amount.
The shape of the outer façade of the building was designed
using a wind tunnel test where the results showed that
twisting the shape of the outer façade by different degrees
can affect the wind load on the building. By rotating
the building 120° compared to a rectangular-shaped building with
the same height, 24% of wind load can be reduced, which is quite
a considerable amount in a city that suffers from typhoons every
year. This iconic twist was able to save a considerable amount of
material cost for construction and also it increases its aesthetic
value.
To stand against the external forces, skyscrapers need an extra
helping hand sometimes. Installing dampers is one way. There are
several types of dampers like active mass dampers, tuned mass
dampers, viscous dampers, etc. On the top of the Shanghai tower,
there is a Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) to hold the tower still.
The TMDs are essentially pendulums in tall buildings tuned
to the natural frequency of the building. When the building starts
to sway because of the applied load on the building, damper also
sways in the same frequency offering a counteracting force that
stops the oscillation in a short period and stabilizes faster. Besides,
the Shanghai tower’s damper was designed artistically for
attraction too.
Exterior twist
and Glass facade
Top view of Shanghai
tower showing
Mechanism of a TMD
TMD of Shanghai Tower
Page 52
University of Peradeniya GAUGE Magazine