Live tendon system inhibiting sway of high rise structures and method

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention in connection with high rise structures represents a system for improvement in reducing substantially the amount of structural or building material which would otherwise be required to stiffen a structure in an effort to inhibit wind induced sway and to dampen the oscillatory effect of the sway in restoring the structure to a state of equilibrium.
For any high rise structure such as an office tower of eighty stories or more in height and as well for structures of forty stories or more, the most important challenge facing the structural designer or builder is to inhibit wind induced sway of the structure as sufficiently tall buildings can sway up to several feet in the face of a heavy wind such as one of gale proportions.
Even at a lesser wind velocity, there may be sufficient sway as to make the occupants of a structure feel queasy.
A high rise structure may be stiffened by structural design by the use of more material in the structural support system and bracing, but this increases substantially the cost of construction.
It is an object of this invention to provide for the erection of a high rise structure with the use of less construction material than would otherwise be required to stabilize the structure against wind sway with means to instantly generate forces opposed to the swaying forces of wind to both inhibit the sway of the structure and to dampen the rate of oscillation which accompanies the sway in the restoration of equilibrium to the structure.
It is another object of this invention to provide sway detection apparatus which detects the extent and direction of the sway and actuates opposing forces to inhibit the sway.
It is also an object of this invention to install an array of live tendons integral with a structure and in connection therewith means detecting and measuring the extent of sway, said means causing tensile forces to be applied to selected tendons adjacent to the main structural members which maintain the structure's stability so as to offset the effect of the force of wind and to diminish the deflection or sway which would otherwise be experienced by the structure and to reduce the rate and extent of the oscillation of the structure as this invention strives to achieve equilibrium and cessation of movement in the structure