Last week, Taipei 101, the world’s second-tallest building and winner of the World’s Tallest Green Building Award, was hit by Typhoon Soudelor as it ripped through Taiwan, then moved on to eastern China and southern Japan. The event was a chance to see how the building would hold up.
Installed in Taipei 101 is a “tuned mass damper,” also known as a “harmonic absorber,” the action of which can be seen in the image below.
The ball is 18 feet (5.48 m) in diameter, weighs 728 tons and was designed to help the building withstand winds up to 135 mph. As the building sways the large round mass swings in the opposite direction. Cables attached from the mass to the upper structure help swing the building back to center. Taipei 101’s “tuned mass damper” is suspended between the 82nd and 87th floors in the Taipei 101 building as illustrated below:
“Taipei 101 Tuned Mass Damper” by Someformofhuman – Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Commons.
The following video shows the movement of the “Tuned Mass Damper” during the storm:
