• Question: how do high building sway in heavy winds

    Asked by WoodlandEar880 to Bobby, Claire B, Claire C, David, Veasna on 10 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Veasna Sum-Coffey

      Veasna Sum-Coffey answered on 10 Mar 2017:

      High buildings sway in heavy winds, because wind creates horizontal forces to cause the building to sway in either direction. The structure of the buildings is bolted in such a way to resist these forces, but sometimes, that is not strong enough. Do not worry, high buildings do have various dampening methods to help buildings sway in a safe way (where the occupants do not feel the swaying).

    • Photo: David Nolan

      David Nolan answered on 11 Mar 2017:

      Beause high rise buildings are so big, the sides of the buildings act almost like a parachute. This makes the building sway in heavy winds.

      The designers of tall buildings have to reinforce the bottom of the buildings to make sure that they are strong enough to stay up.

      This youTube video has a part describing how one of the world’s tallest buildings counteracts heavy winds and earthquakes.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101#Structural_design

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