Significant costs to the public and private sectors due to recent extreme wind events have motivated the need for systematic post-hurricane damage data collection and analysis. Current post disaster data are collected by many different interested groups such as government agencies, voluntary disaster relief agencies, representatives of media companies, academicians and companies in the private sector. Each group has an interest in a particular type of data. However, members of each group collect data using different techniques. This disparity in data is not conducive to quantifying damage data and, therefore, inhibits the statistical and spatial description of damage and comparisons of damage among different extreme wind events. The data collection does not allow comparisons of data or results of analyses within a group and also prohibits comparison of damage data and information among different groups. Typically, analyses of data from a given event lead to different conclusion depending upon the definition of damage used by individual investigators and the type of data collected making it difficult for members of groups to compare the results of their analyses with a common language and basis. A formal method of data collection and analysis-within any single group-would allow comparisons to be made among different individuals, hazardous events and eventually among different groups, thus facilitating the management and reduction of damage due to future disaster. This research introduces a definition of damage to single family dwellings, and a common method of data collection and analysis suited for groups interested in regional characterization of damage. The current state-of-data is presented and a method for data collection is recommended based on these existing data collection methods. A fixed-scale damage index is proposed to consider the damage to a dwelling's feature. Finally, the damage index is applied to three dwellings damaged by Hurricane Iniki (1992). The damage index reflects the reduced functionality of a structure as a single family detached dwelling and provides a means to evaluate regional damage due to a single event or to compare damage due to events of different severity. Evaluation of the damage index and the data available support recommendation for future data collection efforts.

In its 90 years of life, the Tuned Mass Damper have found application in many fields of engineering as a vibration reducing device. The evolution of the theory of TMDs is briefly outlined in the paper. A generalised mathematical linear model for the analysis of the response of line-like structures with TMDs is presented. The system matrices of the system including the TMDs are written in the state space as a function of the mean wind speed. The stability of the system can be analysed and the Power Spectral Density Function of any response parameter calculated, taking into account an arbitrary number of modes of vibration as well as an arbitrary number of TMDs, for any given PSDF of the excitation. The procedure can be used to optimise the number, position and mechanical properties of the damping devices, with respect to any response parameter. Due to the stationarity of the excitation, the method is well suited to structures subjected to the wind action. In particular the procedure allows the calculation of the onset galloping wind speed and the response to buffeting, and a linearisation of the aeroelastic behaviour allows its use also for the evaluation of the response to vortex shedding. Finally three examples illustrate the suggested procedure.

The flow around a structure has been an important subject in wind engineering research. There are various kinds of unstable aerodynamic phenomena with regard to a bluff body. In order to understand the physical mechanism of aerodynamic and aeroelastic instability of a bluff body, the relations between the flow around structures and the motion of body with various section shapes should be investigated. Based on a series of wind tunnel tests, this paper addresses the aerodynamic stability of square cylinder with various corner cuts and attack angles in the uniform flow. The test results show that the models with corner cut produced generally better behaviour for the galloping phenomenon than the original section. However, the corner cut method can not prevent the occurrence of the vortex-induced vibration(VIV). It is also shown that as the attack angle changes, the optimum size of corner cut changes also. This means that any one specific size of corner cut which shows the best aerodynamic behaviour throughout all the cases of attack angles does not exist. This paper presents an intensive study on obtaining the optimum size of corner cut for the stabilization of aerodynamic behaviour of cylinders.

In this paper, a new algorithm for active control design of structures is proposed and investigated. The algorithm preserves the decoupling property of the modal vibration equation and eliminates the spillover problem, which is the main shortcoming in the independent modal space control(IMSC) algorithm. With linear quadratic regulator(LQR) control law, the analytical solution of algebraic Riccati equation and the optimal actuator control force are obtained, and the control design procedure is significantly simplified. A numerical example for the control design of a tall building subjected to wind loads demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in reducing the acceleration and displacement responses of tall buildings under wind actions.

Flexible structures may experience excessive levels of vibration under the action of wind, adversely affecting serviceability and occupant comfort. To ensure the functional performance of a structure, various design modifications are possible, ranging from alternative structural systems to the utilization of passive and active control devices. This paper presents an overview of state-of-the-art measures that reduce the structural response of buildings, including a summary of recent work in aerodynamic tailoring and a discussion of auxiliary damping devices for mitigating the wind-induced motion of structures. In addition, some discussion of the application of such devices to improve structural resistance to seismic events is also presented, concluding with detailed examples of the application of auxiliary damping devices in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States.