• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.185-209
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• 2016

Across-wind aerodynamic damping ratios are identified from the wind-induced acceleration responses of 15 aeroelastic models of rectangular super-high-rise buildings in various simulated wind conditions by using the random decrement technique. The influences of amplitude-dependent structural damping ratio and natural frequency on the estimation of the aerodynamic damping ratio are discussed and the identifying method for aerodynamic damping is improved at first. Based on these works, effects of turbulence intensity $I_u$, aspect ratio H/B, and side ratio B/D on the across-wind aerodynamic damping ratio are investigated. The results indicate that turbulence intensity and side ratio are the most important factors that affect across-wind aerodynamic damping ratio, whereas aspect ratio indirectly affects the aerodynamic damping ratio by changing the response amplitude. Furthermore, empirical aerodynamic damping functions are proposed to estimate aerodynamic damping ratios at low and high reduced speeds for rectangular super-high-rise buildings with an aspect ratio in the range of 5 to 10, a side ratio of 1/3 to 3, and turbulence intensity varying from 1.7% to 25%.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a seismic behavior of unreinforced masonry(URM) structure. For more efficient evaluation, quasi-dynamic analysis method is used in this study. The influence of soil-structure interaction on the seismic response of low rise structures is discussed through comparison of the computed seismic response for the structure on rigid or dense soil and that on soft soil. The results of analytical study show that the story shear forces and the base shear forces could increase on soft soil. Furthermore, it was observed that an approximate expressions prescribed in current seismic codes may underestimate the value of the base shear force of low rise buildings on soft soil.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.99-117
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• 2020

This paper focuses on the processes of wind flow in atmospheric boundary layer, to produce realistic full scale pressures for design of low-rise buildings. CFD with LES turbulence closure is implemented on a scale 1:1 prototype building. A proximity study was executed computationally in CFD with LES that suggests new recommendations on the computational domain size, in front of a building model, apart from common RANS-based guidelines (e.g., COST and AIJ). Our findings suggest a location of the test building, different from existing guidelines, and the inflow boundary proximity influences pressure correlation and reproduction of peak loads. The CFD LES results are compared to corresponding pressures from open jet, full scale, wind tunnel, and the ASCE 7-10 standard for roof Component & Cladding design. The CFD LES shows its adequacy to produce peak pressures/loads on buildings, in agreement with field pressures, due to its capabilities of reproducing the spectral contents of the inflow at 1:1 scale.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.493-514
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• 2002

Seven hip roof building models for $10^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ}$, $25^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $35^{\circ}$ and $40^{\circ}$ roof pitch with large overhangs of 1.1 m were tested in a wind tunnel at the university of Roorkee, India to investigate wind pressure distributions over hip roofs for various roof pitch and wind direction. The results show that the roof pitch and wind direction do significantly affect the magnitude and distribution of the roof pressures. The $40^{\circ}$ roof pitch has been found to experience the highest peak suctions at the roof corners amongst the seven hip roofs tested. Pressures on $15^{\circ}$, $20^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ hip roofs are comparable with those reported by Xu and Reardon (1998). Meecham et al. (1991) for $18.4^{\circ}$ hip roof is compatible with $15^{\circ}$ hip roof of the present study. Holmes's works (1994) on gable roof have also been compared with the present work. Zoning for codification has also been attempted since IS875 (Part-3) does not include this information. A comparison for design value has also been made with BRE Report No. 346.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.25-48
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• 2002

Wind flow and pressure on the roof of the Texas Tech Experimental Building are studied along with the incident wind in an effort to understand the wind-structure interaction and the mechanisms of roof pressure generation. Two distinct flow phenomena, cornering vortices and separation bubble, are investigated. It is found for the cornering vortices that the incident wind angle that favors formation of strong vortices is bounded in a range of approximately 50 degrees symmetrical about the roof-corner bisector. Peak pressures on the roof corner are produced by wind gusts approaching at wind angles conducive to strong vortex formation. A simple analytical model is established to predict fluctuating pressure coefficients on the leading roof corner from the knowledge of the mean pressure coefficients and the incident wind. For the separation bubble situation, the mean structure of the separation bubble is established. The role of incident wind turbulence in pressure-generation mechanisms for the two flow phenomena is better understood.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.371-391
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• 2021

Tornadoes are the most devastating meteorological natural hazards. Many empirical and theoretical numerical models of tornado vortex have been proposed, because it is difficult to carry out direct measurements of tornado velocity components. However, most of existing numerical models fail to explain the physical structure of tornado vortices. The present paper proposes a new empirical numerical model for a tornado vortex, and its load effects on a low-rise and a tall building are calculated and compared with those for existing numerical models. The velocity components of the proposed model show clear variations with radius and height, showing good agreement with the results of field measurements, wind tunnel experiments and computational fluid dynamics. Normal stresses in the columns of a low-rise building obtained from the proposed model show intermediate values when compared with those obtained from existing numerical models. Local forces on a tall building show clear variation with height and the largest local forces show similar values to most existing numerical models. Local forces increase with increasing turbulence intensity and are found to depend mainly on reference velocity Uref and moving velocity Umov. However, they collapse to one curve for the same normalized velocity Uref / Umov. The effects of reference radius and reference height are found to be small. Resultant fluctuating force of generalized forces obtained from the modified Rankine model is considered to be larger than those obtained from the proposed model. Fluctuating force increases as the integral length scale increases for the modified Rankine model, while they remain almost constant regardless of the integral length scale for the proposed model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.861-871
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• 2021

This study aims at investigating the hysteretic performance of a novel composite wall panel fabricated by infilling aerated concrete blocks into a novel light-steel frame used for low-rise residential buildings. The novel light-steel frame is consisted of two thin-wall rectangular hollow section columns and a truss-beam assembled using patented U-shape connectors. Two bare light-steel frames and two composite wall panels have been tested to failure under horizontal cyclic loading. Hysteretic curves, lateral resistance and stiffness of four specimens have been investigated and analyzed. Based on the testing results, it is found that the masonry infill can significantly increase the lateral resistance and stiffness of the novel light-steel frame, about 2.3~3 and 21.2~31.5 times, respectively. Failure mode of the light-steel frame is local yielding of the column. For the composite wall panel, firstly, masonry infill is crushed, subsequently, local yielding may occur at the column if loading continues. Hysteretic curve of the composite wall panel obtained is not plump, implying a poor energy dissipation capacity. However, the light-steel frame of the composite wall panel can dissipate more energy after the masonry infill is crushed. Therefore, the composite wall panel has a much higher energy dissipation capacity compared to the bare light-steel frame.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.371-383
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• 2022

Buildings with mono-sloped roofs are used for different purposes like at railway platforms, restaurants, industrial buildings, etc. Between two types of mono-slope roofs, clad and unclad, unclad canopy types are more vulnerable to wind load as wind produces pressure on both upper and lower surfaces of the roof, resulting in uplifting of the roof surface. This paper discusses the provisions of wind loads in different codes and standards for Low-rise buildings. Further, the pressure coefficients on mono-slope canopy roof available in wind code and standards are compared. Previous experimental studies for mono-slope canopy roof along with the recent wind tunnel testing carried out at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee is briefly discussed and compared with the available wind codes. From the study it can further be asserted that the information available related to staging or blocking under the mono-slope canopy roofs is limited. This paper is an attempt to put together the available information in different wind codes/standards and the research works carried out by different researchers, along with shedding some light on the future scopes of research on mono-slope canopy roofs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.673-687
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• 2023

In this study, the weight and the connections type layout of low-rise eccentrically braced frame (EBF) have been optimized based on performance-based design method. For this purpose, two objective functions were defined based on two different aspects on rigid connections, in one of which minimization and in the other one, maximization of the number of rigid connections was considered. These two objective functions seek to increase the area under the pushover curve, in addition to the reduction of the weight and selection of the optimum connections type layout. The performance of these objective functions was investigated in optimal design of a three-story eccentrically braced frame, using two meta-heuristic algorithms: Enhanced Colliding Bodies Optimization (ECBO) and Enhanced Vibrating Particles System (EVPS). Then, the reliability indices of the optimal designs for both objective functions were calculated for the story lateral drift limits using Monte-Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. Based on the reliability assessment results of the optimal designs and taking the three levels of safety into account, the final designs were selected and their specifications were compared.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.983-1000
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• 2016

To date the engineering community has seen facade systems as non-structural elements with high aesthetic value and a barrier between the outdoor and indoor environments. The role of facades in energy use in a building has also been recognized and the industry is also witnessing the emergence of many energy efficient facade systems. This paper will focus on using exterior skin of the double skin facade system as a dissipative movable element during earthquake excitation. The main aim of this study is to investigate the potential of the facade system to act as a damper system to reduce earthquake-induced vibration of the primary structure. Unlike traditional mass dampers, which are usually placed at the top level of structures, the movable/smart double skin facade systems are distributed throughout the entire height of building structures. The outer skin is moveable and can act as a multi tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) that move and dissipate energy during strong earthquake motions. In this paper, using a three dimensional 10-storey building structure as the example, it is shown that with optimal choice of materials for stiffness and damping of brackets connecting the two skins, a substantial portion of earthquake induced vibration energy can be dissipated which leads to avoiding expensive ductile seismic designs. It is shown that the engineering demand parameters (EDPs) for a low-rise building structures subjected to moderate to severe earthquakes can be substantially reduced by introduction of a smart designed double skin system.