Why Skyscrapers Don't Blow Over

[@TheB1M]

Head to brilliant.org/TheB1M/ for a 30-day free trial and get 20% off an annual premium subscription 🙌 🏗

[@rasmis]

Looking at the Etihad Stadium, and it's airplane-like features, I was thinking: Imagine a relatively heavy roof, shaped like a sail, connected to its building with a rack and pinion-system. When the wind picks up the roof, the pininons harvest energy. The roof then spills the wind, like a sail, and gravity returns it to its original position. The pinions harvesting energy again. Has something like that ever been tested?

[@fredashay]

Glad you dropped Master Scams as your sponsor and got Brilliant! That's brilliant! 🙂

[@MrLense]

I'm in for Fred's Tom Scott arc, visiting interesting labs that test engineering things.

[@TheOpacue]

Yeeees!!

[@lonestarr1490]

Are you suggesting he will eventually fly off attached to a helicopter?

[@MangoJim]

There’s a little Tom Scott in all of us!

[@GeekyMedia]

That’s actually such a good way to describe it 😂

[@grahamcollins6810]

Milton Keynes: "Somewhere a little less exotic" - perfect description!

[@lonestarr1490]

They should put that on their "Welcome to Milton Keynes" road signs.

[@Craigels]

@@lonestarr1490 as someone that lives here... I can 100% agree and support this idea!

[@djpalmer31]

As a Milton Keynes resident I never knew this place was on my doorstep, until now. Great video....and you can never have too many roundabouts 😉

[@GamingGrenade1]

"This place will seriously blow you away" I see what you did there

[@samfrain6623]

I quite liked the "uplifting career" pun. Very subtle!

[@ibrahim-sj2cr]

@@samfrain6623 5:48 i searched the comments as soon as i heard "uplifting career"

[@piraterubberduck6056]

When you put all these different shaped buildings together, you can get some hard to predict behaviour of the wind. This can include wind being directed up or down as well as creating high and low speed and pressure areas around buildings. Trying to predict this with computer simulations is challenging as there is just so much physics going on, so wind tunnel testing is essential. Very interesting stuff.

[@hateclub]

A good example of unintended wind effects is the Bridgwater Place building in Leeds, which caused wind to funnel past one specific section of road and ultimately one person died when a lorry blew over. Now they have wind deflectors in place by the road.

[@GeekyMedia]

Now you say it, I actually remember this happening. Shocking stuff

[@morganspencer-churchill2136]

I would watch an hour long video of Fred attempting to eat different breads and pastries in a wind tunnel.

[@TheB1M]

We're on it.

[@tyler5914]

❤

[@davidkoenig8592]

I love architectural models as much as the real buildings themselves, so this brief look into how they react to wind was excellent. Thank you Fred and B1M!

[@ryanwood93]

You finally found your biggest fan

[@ivansanchez143]

"So by now ,you may be thinking that a carrer in wind engineering sounds pretty uplifting" 😂

[@DoweyMITM]

Bet he said that with a straight face. 🤣🤣🤣

[@srdjanavram9504]

Nice look under the hood of one of RWDI's facilities. Thanks B1M team.

[@pacldawson]

What a fascinating facility, providing a much-needed service.

[@jamiemc2456]

The amount of wind puns you made there in that brilliant segment actually made me laugh 😂 🌬️

[@MaxPospelkov]

"Rave test" sounds awesome!!! I'd like to be a rave test specialist)))

[@Hasmo_]

As an F1 fan, hearing Milton Keynes is huge.

[@D3Vlicious]

I wonder if anyone has ever thought of popping over next door to Red Bull to ask Adrian Newey to make their building more aerodynamic.

[@yousorooo]

The amount of puns in the video really blew me away.

[@dcallan812]

I was blown away. 🤣🤣👍👍Gustave Eiffel built his own wind tunnel under the Eiffel tower

[@LSmallCatL]

I'd be surprised if anyone in the construction industry wouldn't be familiar with RWDI. There aren't many options for wind tunnel testing around the world considering the required facility and associated costs. Smaller projects often go to Computational Fluid Dynamic software tools which are much cheaper and faster however lack the applied testing which you get from a wind tunnel test. Every project however has to consider wind loads in their structural calculation. One caveat however is to be considered. Different regions/ countries have different standards/ requirements which usually is based on the worst condition experienced since windspeeds were measured. Therefore, higher wind loads due to climate changes will fall into the applied safety factors which have to be rather higher than lower to avoid a sudden collapse of any structural if unprecedented conditions apply.

[@Aeiroq]

Fred’ videos are of unparalleled quality

[@daveymaggee9863]

This was fascinating. They really think of everything. Thanks Fred.

[@donmyers945]

Finally Fred grows into his role as the world's most gorgeous explainer. W/a tight shirt to boot!

[@nickmhc]

Idk how an Optimum Tech + B1M crossover would happen but they’re both on the same level

[@rollinwithunclepete824]

Thanks, Fred. A very interesting insider's view of a very cool subject! Glad you survived the Wind Tunnel

[@stevenlee3278]

Really enjoy watching your passion for engineering and building and human ingenuity!

[@Amm17ar]

As a great F1 driver once said. Simply Lovely.

[@nickholland24]

Milton Keynes! Omg real civil engineer wasn't lying!

[@aracelyd.6455]

The engineering is impressive and super advanced, amazing video.🧚🏻‍♀️

[@muadddib]

If a couple roundabouts are already too many, youll have a field day in the Netherlands haha

[@karengerhardt6008]

Fred looked like a kid in a candy shop. 😂 That was so awesome! I live in an area where they did not do this, and some days I literally can't walk between my building (22 stories) and the adjacent one (18 stories). We have our own wind tunnel, lol.

[@Digitalsurfer265]

Getting to work there would be a designer’s dream job! And you get to play with fancy mediums and tools all day!

[@_Breakdown]

twin towers were 1st skyscrapers to be tested in a wind tunnel - but - they only tested 1 tower alone (they didn’t test both towers side-by-side); there was also a notoriously harsh wind that went through that plaza between those towers. Also, they built 2 moving rooms that simulated how the wind would be experienced by the occupants when the buildings swayed; For both tests many people found the simulated motion disturbing. The engineers came up with motion dampers to absorb the sway; the 1st time any such dampening device was used in a building. (No conclusive evidence that the dampers worked). Great video - thanks for sharing! 🙂👍🏼👍🏼

[@CanMav]

I'm so sure they had to try very hard to convince you Fred, you looked like you had a blast 😉

[@SaintsAwayOllie]

11:06 good to see Haland getting involved with the Etihad stadium expansion!

[@Merennulli]

Looks like the production team had fun. 😂

[@heidelbergaren5054]

I’m a really big fan of these types of videos

[@TheB1M]

Haha, nice!

[@MelancholieT]

Shame that RWDI didn't test Bridgewater Place in Leeds. A video on that, and the measures that were put in place to try and counter the deadly wind effects of the building, would be very interesting.

[@jimhearsonwriter]

I used to live in Leeds (including when the poor person died as a result of the wind tunnel it created), and this was my first thought.

[@Aussie_Engineer]

Great video, thanks for sharing mate.

[@jamesslate6664]

I'm currently living in Chicago, where one of the city's newest supertall buildings is the St Regis Chicago. This mixed-use tower was designed by Studio Gang. Late in the construction phase, it was determined that it would be necessary to leave floors 83 and 84 unfinished, creating a blow-through in order to stabilize the top floors above. While this did solve the issue of building sway at the top, reducing it by 20%, it looks like a flaw in the design. I wonder if this advanced wind tunnel modeling could have been used to solve the problem while the architects were still at the design stage. I can think of another example, the Shanghai Financial Centre, designed by Kohn Peterson Fox, which has a hole at the top as part of the overall design.

[@difrancogavin717]

the segways into the sponsor are just too smooth

[@CarstenSvendsen]

How often do you see a jacked as dude as a news reporter? That's so cool, actually improves the quality of the already high production value!

[@waynelander9054]

10:53 THATS MY UNCLE 🤩

[@harrydooley7370]

Aye up Lad hope you enjoyed the video!

[@omarhernandez6518]

We need more Chicago’s skyline when it comes to these videos, The Home of the Skyscraper needs to be respected.

[@gabriel.hongkong]

This place is super cool. I envy their jobs. Its basically a giant science project for adults.

[@bbkandsons]

Really enjoyed this one!

[@Norfolk250]

I recall learning about the facilities back ... oh, a bit ago, on Discovery Channel 'Canada' ... and we (local Guelphites - headquarter office) were left apologizing to the world at large for having tested the Orange Curtains display that went into Central Park.

[@GeekyMedia]

I hope this works for Los Angeles. Long-term, I could see this part of the world suffering with a lot of natural disaster issues, sadly.

[@bobbyconrad7500]

As a civil engineer myself and living in New Jersey (one of the few US states that uses roundabouts regularly) I find it kind of disappointing but also hilarious that the only reason I know about Milton Keynes and their abundance of roundabouts is from @RealCivilEngineeringGaming and his city skylines jokes about the city 😅😂

[@bobbyconrad7500]

Welp, after some quick research once I finished the video I’m sad to find out that NJ actually does not fall in the top states for roundabouts 🙈 in fact out of the 110 found on Wikipedia, about ~45 are now defunct smh. But To be fair my hometown of ~2 sq. Miles contains 2 itself plus another ~15 in nearby towns I regularly work in or drive through which is about 25% of them in the state!

[@DSemedoVideo]

This might be my favourite channel at the moment and I'm an avid youtube watcher!

[@journeysoul]

Isn't there more then just one direction the wind can come from? how do they simulate turbulence and is it enough to build models out of plastic of foam to get significant data about the behavoir of the structure and its parts?

[@DouglasJWalker]

I didnot know of the scale of the wind tunnel. Very fascinating.

[@Billybobble1]

This is the kind of content I love on this channel, so interesting to learn what seem like finer points but are major parts to large construction. I recently left a job at the £1.3 billion AstraZeneca Discovery Centre in Cambridge UK and from my short time at that facility, I cannot believe this type of research was employed in it's construction. The wind would funnel and increase in the open spaces surrounding the building. Maybe the long term plan with the new train station would negate this effect, I do not know, that's Fred's job to tell me otherwise. Regardless, for £1.3 billion, it felt like shortcuts had been made.

[@kathrynlegear2865]

Great ! Thank You !!

[@sledgehammer-productions]

What does B1M stand for? I couldn't find it in the FAQ on the website, so I'm thinking that maybe it's a well known acronym in the construction world (which I'm not part of, so I wouldn't know).

[@d.b.cooper1]

Did they work on that skyscraper at Birdgewater Place in Leeds??

[@Zyzzyx42]

Curious wind tunnel layout. I thought most pulled the air past the measuring area (fan behind it) instead of pushing it (fan in front).

[@pmufc7]

The wind around the Deansgate Square towers make it a very inhospitable place, grim

[@NorthPoleSun]

I wonder how they use different materials in the models to correlate with the different materials used in the actual structure.

[@user-ek1to4gq3h]

No wonder RB are so fast, Adrian visit this place a lot is my guess and his a genius

[@TheVesko95]

Amazing to see Manchester on the skyscraper map

[@HyperionStudiosDE]

I wonder how they translate the data they collected on the model to useful data for the actual building. Or is it more about finding qualitative data about how the building will affect and be affected by the air stream?

[@musecreator4868]

Oh lordy Fred, how many puns? LOL. Loved the video as always and I can’t wait to listen to the poddy on this one!

[@missionman5000]

This wasn't around building the Empire State Building. Technology has come a long way.

[@WhoIsOlton]

i like this "new" B1M, also beautifully shot.

[@markarmstrong2592]

Another great video again

[@TheB1M]

Thanks so much!

[@remkoburger6595]

Very impressive Fred. How did you get wind of it?

[@userbosco]

On first watch, I thought you called the model building @3:25 the "shart"... LOL

[@philjones35]

Damn they even modeled in the supporters at the Etihad

[@jaz499]

I ❤ that you used a clip from the movie “a fantastic woman”

[@punkgift]

If Bridgewater Place in Leeds was tested then the testing didn't work. It was notorious for the strong winds that whipped up around it, which resulted in the death of a pedestrian when a van was blown on to him. It now has giant baffles in the street to break up the wind flow

[@JackReacheround]

Yall are going wild with the thumbnails

[@mrbbqcraig]

Most definitely very interesting and informative... cheers Fred 🤟✨

[@sterlingnerdling]

Really interesting stuff. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get to see a test being done or have any of the rave test explained, but I imagine they probably don't want to share their secrets or something. Still, pretty cool.

[@mrnnhnz]

I wish you would've showed the meaningfulness of the wind-test in action. Show footage from a slo-mo camera deforming the little models while the experts describe that the model is performing within desired tolerances - or not. Even just animated models with data from real life showing little stress points in blue, green, orange and red... That's what I want from this sort of video. And when you talk about scaling, how do they scale accurately, so the model - which is not built of steel and concrete - accurately reflects how a steel and concrete structure will behave? Again, that's the sort of thing I want from a video like this...

[@jamesgilbart2672]

Fascinating video! What are those small blocks on the floor of the wind tunnel for?

[@duckydude20]

the world runs on unsung heroes...

[@erasmus_locke]

Milton Keynes has got to be the epicenter of wind tunnels on earth. This and just about every F1 team do their aerodynamic testing there

[@nobodyinteresting9967]

Why are ther so many little squares at the bottom of the wind tunnel?

[@D3Vlicious]

And that's not even the most high-tech place doing stuff with wind tunnels in Milton Keynes, considering Red Bull Racing is based there as well.

[@urbanstrencan]

Interesting to see use of automotive technology

[@NikCan66]

This is excellent

[@trudy__taylorandjorjamummy]

Last time I was this early, Fred was blown away! ❤❤

[@rocko44444444]

"Milton Keynes has many roundabouts." :D

[@arabicriflegaming8871]

i really want to be a structural engineer when i grow up but i have a 1.3 gpa and failing basic trigonometry

[@silkmaze]

Another great video, but why are the videos so short. These subjects really need longer videos.

[@edyee1647]

They do occasionally make longer videos that come out monthly.

[@_max_-qg3je]

Genuine question, how come this company didn’t transition to a wind simulator type of program. As a company, it makes it way more scalable. Is it just too challenging for now? Cause Nvidia with nvidia making earth 2, it seems possible

[@tonypapas9854]

1:04 I didn't know Sauron had them help with a mockup of Barad-Dur 😉 🤣 💀

[@Jamon1916]

I see that they test buildings in their final form, but do they test it through out the process of construction? For example: Skyscraper is 30-60% complete and a powerful hurricane/typhoon hits, what effect does the wind have on the incomplete structure?

[@WardyHoot]

Part of the construction design process

[@johnawalker9261]

Most major car manufacturers have wind tunnels, not just things that are very fast.

[@MrOvimik]

You sure have some big fans! :)

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

Now if they could just retrofit older buildings that cause problems at ground level. I know of two intersections in San Francisco where you can be blown off your feet.

[@s1r0lf64]

How come they don't have a need to match the reynolds number to the real situation? since they don't seem to control temperature and such.

[@waffle_gamer2638]

are you gonna make a video about the gordie howe bridge big milestone?

[@davidcarlstrom3863]

Not mentioned was that the headquarters of RWDI is in Guelph Ontario Canada.

[@Norfolk250]

(GASP!!) ¿fellow Guelphite?

[@davidcarlstrom3863]

@@Norfolk250 No.

[@herbtarlic892]

Hooray for Guelph!

[@herbtarlic892]

@@Norfolk250 For several years, yes!

[@rapidthrash1964]

What is the maximum speed of the wind simulations?

[@janicesparks1743]

Hi from Houston TX

[@ohasis8331]

I'd heard that if a 30 or more storied building can handle the wind loads, it should be able to handle most earthquakes thrown at it.

[@richardfoster2021]

Good show,,

[@larrybanta8858]

Wow that's awesome and crazy and scary

[@noone-qg1od]

So they've got a big fan.

[@alexalekos]

it's interesting how they still haven't managed to simulate this process on a computer

[@garywalker8493]

They do simulations too. But fluid mechanical equations are notoriously difficult and tunnel testing isalso needed. Fluid mechanics was one of my favorite courses in school, but it was also one of the more difficult classes.