• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2010

The recommended factored design wind load effects for overhead lattice transmission line towers by codes and standards are evaluated based on the applicable wind load factor, gust response factor and design wind speed. The current factors and design wind speed were developed considering linear elastic responses and selected notional target safety levels. However, information on the nonlinear inelastic responses of such towers under extreme dynamic wind loading, and on the structural capacity curves of the towers in relation to the design capacities, is lacking. The knowledge and assessment of the capacity curve, and its relation to the design strength, is important to evaluate the integrity and reliability of these towers. Such an assessment was performed in the present study, using a nonlinear static pushover (NSP) analysis and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), both of which are commonly used in earthquake engineering. For the IDA, temporal and spatially varying wind speeds are simulated based on power spectral density and coherence functions. Numerical results show that the structural capacity curves of the tower determined from the NSP analysis depend on the load pattern, and that the curves determined from the nonlinear static pushover analysis are similar to those obtained from IDA.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 1999

Wind effects are critical considerations in the design of topside structures, overall structural systems, or both, depending on the water depth and type of offshore platform. The reliable design of these facilities for oil fields in regions of hostile environment can only be assured through better understanding of the environmental load effects and enhanced response prediction capabilities. This paper summarizes the analysis and performance of offshore platforms under extreme wind loads, including the quantification of wind load effects with focus on wind field characteristics, steady and unsteady loads, gust loading factors, application of wind tunnel tests, and the provisions of the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 2A - Working Stress Design (API RP 2A-WSD) for the construction of offshore structures under the action of wind. A survey of the performance of platforms and satellite structures is provided, and failure mechanisms concerning different damage scenarios during Hurricane Andrew are examined. Guidelines and provisions for improving analysis and design of structures are addressed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.255-266
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• 2000

Wind-induced interference effects on a building are the result of one or more adjacent buildings modifying the flow of wind around it, which may result in a significant increase or decrease in wind loads on the building. Wind loading standards and codes of practice offer little guidance to the designer for assessing the effects of interference. Experimental results on interference effects indicate that code recommendations may be significantly low (unsafe) or uneconomically conservative. The paper presents results of an extensive experimental program to study the wind flow mechanisms and to quantify the extent of wind load modifications on buildings due to interference effects. These results have been simplified and presented from the point-of-view of design and codification for the case of two buildings. Based on these results, general guidelines and limiting conditions defining wind interference are formulated and discussed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.193-202
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• 2024

Modern high-rise tower designs incorporating recessed balcony cavity spaces can be prone to high-frequency and narrow-band Rossiter aerodynamic excitations under glancing incident winds that can harmonize and compete with recessed balcony volume acoustic Helmholtz modes and facade elastic responses. Resulting resonant inertial wind loading to balcony facades responding to these excitations is additive to the peak design wind pressures currently allowed for in wind codes and can present as excessive facade vibrations and sub-audible throbbing in the serviceability range of wind speeds. This paper presents a methodology to determine Cavity Amplification Factors to account for façade resonant inertial wind loads resulting from balcony cavity aero-acoustic-elastic resonances by drawing upon field observations and the results of full-scale monitoring and model-scale wind tunnel tests. Recessed balcony cavities with single orifice type openings and located within curved façade tower geometries appear particularly prone. A Cavity Amplification Factor of 1.8 is calculated in one example representing almost a doubling of local façade design wind pressures. Balcony façade and tower design recommendations to mitigate wind induced aero-acoustic-elastic resonances are provided.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.337-345
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• 2018

Tall buildings are subjected to wind loading that can cause excessive wind-induced vibration. This vibration can affect the activities of the inhabitants of a building and in some cases fear for safety. Many codes and standards propose the use of curves of perception of acceleration that can be used to verify the serviceability limit state; however, these curves of perception do not take into account the uncertainty in wind-climate, structural properties, perception of motion and maximum response. The main objective of this study is to develop an empirical expression that includes these uncertainties in order to be incorporated into a simple procedure to evaluate the wind-induced acceleration in tall buildings. The use of the proposed procedure is described with a numerical example of a tall building located in Mexico.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.145-160
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• 1998

In recent years, the effects of a possible climate change have been discussed in regard to wind loading on buildings and structures. Simple scenarios based on the assumption of global warming suggest an increase of storm intensities and storm frequencies and a possible re-distribution of storm tracks. Among recent publications, some papers seem to verify these scenarios while others deny the influence of climatic change. In an introductory step, the paper tries to re-examine these statements. Based on meteorological observations of a weather station in Germany, the existence of long-term trends and their statistical significance is investigated. The analysis itself is based on a refined model for the wind climate introducing a number of new basic variables. Thus, the numerical values of the design wind loads used in modern codes become more justified from the probabilistic point of view.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.197-212
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• 2005

Tall buildings under wind action usually oscillate simultaneously in the along-wind and across-wind directions as well as in torsional modes. While several procedures have been developed for predicting wind-induced loads and responses in along-wind direction, accurate analytical methods for estimating across-wind and torsional response have not been possible yet. Simplified empirical formulas for estimation of the across-wind dynamic responses of rectangular tall buildings are presented in this paper. Unlike established empirical formulas in codifications, the formulas proposed in this paper are developed based on simultaneous pressure measurements from a series of tall building models with various side and aspect ratios in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Comparisons of the across-wind responses determined by the proposed formulas and the results obtained from the wind tunnel tests as well as those estimated by two well-known wind loading codes are made to examine the applicability and accuracy of the proposed simplified formulas. It is shown through the comparisons that the proposed simplified formulas can be served as an alternative and useful tool for the design and analysis of wind effects on rectangular tall buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.413-431
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• 2010

The focus of this article is on the assessment of vertical wind vector components and their aerodynamic impact on lattice framework, specifically two distinct sections of a guyed transmission tower. Thunderstorm winds, notably very localized events such as convective downdrafts (including downbursts) and tornadoes, result in a different load on a tower's structural system in terms of magnitude and spatial distribution when compared to horizontal synoptic winds. Findings of previous model-scale experiments are outlined and their results considered for the development of a testing rig that allows for rotation about multiple body axes through a series of wind tunnel tests. Experimental results for the wind loads on two unique experimental models are presented and the difference in behaviour discussed. For a model cross arm with a solidity ratio of approximately 30%, the drag load was increased by 14% when at a pitch angle of $20^{\circ}$. Although the effects of rotation about the vertical body axis, or the traditional 'angle of attack', are recognized by design codes as being significant, provisions for vertical winds are absent from each set of wind loading specifications examined. The inclusion of a factor to relate winds with a vertical component to the horizontal speed is evaluated as a vertical wind factor applicable to load calculations. Member complexity and asymmetric geometry often complicate the use of lattice wind loading provisions, which is a challenge that extends to future studies and codification. Nevertheless, the present work is intended to establish a basis for such studies.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.703-721
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• 2016

This paper presents a wind tunnel study of wind loads of the large billboard structures with two-plate and three-plate configurations. Synchronous dynamic pressures on the surfaces of plates are measured, and the characteristics of local pressures, integrated forces on each individual plate and on the overall structures are investigated. The influences of wind direction and plate configuration on wind load characteristics, and the contributions of overall crosswind load and torque to the stress responses are examined. The results showed that the wind load characteristics of windward plate in both two- and three-plate configurations are very similar. The contribution of overall crosswind load makes the total resultant force from both alongwind and crosswind loads less sensitive to wind direction in the case of three-plate configuration. The overall torque is lower than the value specified in current codes and standards, and its contribution is less significant in both two-plate and three-plate configurations.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-22
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• 2003

Nowadays balanced cantilever construction plays an essential role as a sophisticated erection technique of bridges due to its economical and ecological advantages. Experience teaches that wind has a great importance with regard to this construction technique, but methods proposed by codes to take wind effects into account are still rather crude and, in most cases, completely lacking. Also research in this field is quite limited and aimed at studying only the longitudinal shear and the torque at the pier base, caused by the mean wind velocity and by the longitudinal turbulence actions over the deck. This paper advances the present solutions by developing a new procedure that takes into account all wind effects both on the deck and on the pier. The proposed model assumes the mean wind velocity as orthogonal to the bridge plane and considers the effects produced by all the three turbulence components and by the vortex shedding. The applications point out the role of each loading component on different bridge configurations and show that disregarding the presence of some effects may imply oversimplified results and relevant underestimations.