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The changing environment enhances the hydrological cycle and increases the frequency of extreme floods. In this paper, the impacts of climate variability on flood season segmentation are determined and the scientific basis for determining corresponding flood limiting water levels (FLWLs) is provided. Climate variation was determined and then the flood season was divided into several sub-seasons using the results of the set pair analysis method (SPAM) and four indices; peak floods crossing the transitional periods were sampled to obtain a design flood hydrograph; and, finally, seasonal FLWLs were determined for reservoir operation. The performance of this reservoir staging operation was evaluated for a case study in the Chengbihe Reservoir, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate different energy dissipation systems used to control wind-induced vibrations of a 456 m super-tall building in fluctuating wind excitations, the finite element (FE) method was employed to simulate the dynamic responses of the building. A series of wind tunnel pressure tests were conducted on a 1:450 scale model to determine the wind forces acting on the super-tall building. A FE model was also constructed and mass, damping and stiffness matrices were subsequently formulated as an evaluation model for numerical analysis. The evaluation model was further simplified to a state reduced-order system using the state order reduction method. Three different vibration control schemes, namely a tuned mass damper (TMD) system, a system containing only nonlinear viscous dampers and a hybrid control system combining TMD and viscous dampers, were examined through simulations with respect to their effectiveness in reducing the accelerations at the top of the building. Furthermore, a cost evaluation was conducted to determine the most economical structural design and vibration control scheme. The results show that the wind-induced vibrations of the analysed building can be controlled effectively by all the three examined schemes, while the hybrid control scheme and the scheme containing only viscous dampers further reduce the wind-induced vibration to satisfy a more stringent criterion for a six-star hotel. In addition, the hybrid vibration control scheme is also the most cost-effective among the examined schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]