Review of Wind Effects on Structures: Modern Structural Design for Wind, 4th Edition by Emil Simiu and DongHun Yeo

This book is the fourth, enlarged revision of the main reference book in the field of wind engineering, originally authored by Dr. E. Simiu from NIST and the late Professor R. H. Scanlan, a true pioneer in this field. The first author has collaborated with Dr. D. Yeo to upgrade and expand the topics of the previous edition, incorporating several new sections. The preface from the fourth edition reveals the main motivations that led to the preparation of the book. They include new developments in wind field and pressure measurement technologies, the use of big data to combine the effects of multidirectionality winds, and discrepancies on occasion found between independent experimental estimates of wind loads (e.g., laboratories) and wind load uncertainty propagation.

The material is organized in four main parts. Part I is devoted to wind engineering fundamentals such as atmospheric flows, turbulence, and experimental aerodynamics. Part II examines aerodynamics and design of both high-rise and low-rise buildings. Part III summarizes the field of dynamics, aeroelasticity, and fluid–structure interaction. The following chapters are worth mentioning: design of chimneys against vortex shedding and lock-in phenomena in Chapter 22, and analysis of long-span bridges for wind buffeting and flutter in Chapter 23 (with the addition of novel developments in the field of stay-cable vibration). Finally, in Part IV topics related to the design of special structures are analyzed (offshore platforms, tensile membrane structures, tornado design, and wind-borne debris missiles).

The principal new features of the book are (1) implementation of computational methods for wind load estimation design [i.e., computational fluid dynamics (CFD)] as an alternative to wind tunnel testing; (2) design software developments for the structural analysis of low-rise and high-rise structures subject to wind hazards; and (3) modeling of nonstationary, mesoscale wind phenomena (e.g., tornadoes), different from synoptic winds (e.g., tropical cyclones and extratropical depressions).

The description of various CFD models and applications for bluff-body aerodynamics can be found in Chapter 6; it is intended for nonexperts as well as more experienced wind engineers by presenting both theory fundamentals (e.g., turbulence models) and some examples, and by discussing new emerging issues such as uncertainty in CFD modeling and simplifications.

The software developments are in line with the past and current research activities at NIST, exploiting the so-called database-assisted design (DAD) approach for wind engineering design. The DAD approach is described in detail in Part II of the book, for both high-rise and low-rise structures in Chapters 8, 10, and 13. The DAD approach relies on the collection of a number of experimental data sets from wind tunnel tests carried out at both Western University in Canada and Tokyo Polytechnic University in Japan. Through collaboration with such institutions, a unique set of pressure time histories are used to estimate wind loads directly without resorting to the transformation from peak wind velocities to peak wind pressures that is one of the crucial, and still contentious, aspects of the Davenport wind loading chain. The authors have developed the DAD approach by combining the material of this book with a dedicated MATLAB software. The book may consequently be used as a software manual by structural engineers, and enables wind-resistant design of structures under several wind load scenarios.

Two more sections are quite interesting. First, Chapter 5 is expanded from the previous edition and is devoted to aerodynamic testing, where descriptions of new, large-scale aerodynamic testing facilities are presented (Iowa State University tornado/thunderstorm simulator, WindEEE Dome at Western University, Wall of Wind at Florida International University, University of Florida terraformer wind tunnel, and the large-scale testing facility of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety). Second, Chapter 14 examines the procedures for determining equivalent static wind loads for wind load design of tall buildings, as an alternative to the DAD approach, that account for imperfect spatial correlation and nonsimultaneity of peak wind loads at various building floors. This second approach, derived by summarizing recent contributions by several researchers in this field, is in line with ASCE 7 design guidelines; it supersedes the high-frequency force balance practice in wind tunnels where dynamic analyses are performed by the wind engineer without specific information on the wind loads with building height.

In conclusion, this text represents a large compilation of very long and solid theoretical and practical experience in dealing with wind engineering problems on the part of the two authors. It is a fundamental resource for both the experienced researcher and the practicing structural engineer preoccupied with this type of problem. It also serves as a reference textbook for graduate engineering students who wish to study the modern wind engineering discipline.