Wind‐induced internal pressure effect within a novel super‐large cylindrical–conical steel cooling tower

A cylindrical–conical steel cooling tower (SCT) is a new type of very large thin‐walled, flexible structure. This study focused on the wind loads on the internal and outer surfaces of this structure and its wind‐induced responses. First, using the computational fluid dynamics method, the numerical wind tunnel was conducted to simulate a 189‐m‐high cylindrical–conical SCT, Asia's highest cooling tower that is still under construction. This numerical method was validated by comparing the wind pressures across typical cross sections of the tower model's cylindrical and conical segments with known standard curves. Based on this, the features of the airflow around the typical cross sections and its wake were extracted, and the distribution of mean wind loads along the internal and outer surfaces of the cylindrical and conical sections was obtained. Then functions for estimating the internal and outer surfaces shape factors of the cylindrical and conical segments were obtained by fitting to the simulated data. Furthermore, finite element method was used to analyze the static wind‐induced response of the cylindrical–conical SCT under internal pressure, external pressure, or both internal and external pressure. The effect patterns of internal pressures on the wind‐induced responses of the main tube, stiffening trusses, and auxiliary trusses of the tower were derived from the analysis results. Main findings of the research can provide a reference for design of very large cylindrical–conical SCTs for wind resistance in the future.