Wind load is the control load in the design of large cooling tower structure，and the current wind-resistant guiding ideology is based on strength design theory. However，several wind-damaged events in history indicate that excessive local wind load may also lead to local tension damage of the tower tube，which leads to progressive collapse and buckling instability of the whole tower tube structure. The structural damage caused by local wind-induced damage is a typical form of structural robustness damage，and this kind of problem has become a new challenge for the development of cooling towers. In order to analyze the structural failure criteria and robustness of super-large cooling towers subjected to strong winds，a three-dimensional finite element model of super-large cooling towers with the highest height limit of 220 m in the world is established based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA platform and the whole process of wind-induced collapse is simulated. The displacement response and the internal force distribution of the cooling tower under typical wind speed are studied，and the location，numerical value and distribution rule of the most unfavorable response are extracted.The whole process evolution mechanism of "stability-instability-collapse" of the cooling tower under strong wind is discussed，and the structural failure criterion of the cooling tower under strong wind is put forward. It is found that the weak position of structural robustness of super-large cooling towers under strong wind is the throat area of the tower tube on the windward side，where "fold deformation" occurs in the meridional direction of ?70° and 70°，leading to the failure of the local structure on the top of the tower and the collapse of the overall structure of the tower tube. The strain energy density of the tower tube shows an exponential trend. The percentage of the relative horizontal displacement of the throat to throat diameter S>1%，failure coefficient of exponential strain energy density K≥0.3 can be used as the criterion for judging structural failure，and the robustness index can be well evaluated.