During the Taiwan's earthquake on April 3, 2024, a large anti-seismic steel sphere may have saved the Taipei 101 observatory building. The giant ball is a sort of damper created to reduce and counteract the oscillations that occur during earthquakes. But did this golden globe really manage to prevent the eleventh tallest building in the world's collapse? And how exactly does it work? The sphere, located between the 87th and 91st building's floors, works like a pendulum: it moves in the opposite direction to the tower's oscillations, counterbalancing the movement due to the shocks. In this video we analyze the structure of Taipei 101's golden sphere and explain how it works from a technical-engineering point of view.
Credit:
The Engineering Hub
Armand du Plessis
Johan Jönsson (Julle)
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