Gust Buffeting of Slender Structures and Structural Elements: Simplified Formulas for Design Calculations and Code Provisions
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 2
Abstract
The lack of simple methods to determine the simultaneous alongwind, crosswind, and torsional loading and response of slender structures and structural elements is a major shortcoming in design practice and wind standards. In this regard structural engineers are now familiar with determining the gust factor and dynamic coefficient of the alongwind loading and response. Meanwhile, they are becoming more and more familiar with evaluating the crosswind loading and response of slender structures subjected to critical vortex shedding conditions. On the other hand, structural engineers often forget to inspect or ignore the crosswind and torsional loading and response attributable to gust buffeting, at most limiting themselves to carrying out static analyses based on peak wind actions and unit dynamic coefficients. This is typical, for instance, in the design of bridges and footbridges, chimneys, lighting poles, telecommunication towers, and single elements of lattice structures and industrial frameworks. However, crosswind and torsional actions on slender structures and structural elements caused by the buffeting loading frequently exceed the alongwind buffeting loading and the crosswind loading caused by critical vortex shedding. In addition, provided that crosswind and torsional actions attributable to the buffeting loading do not prevail on the alongwind ones, their evaluation cannot be ignored and their load effects have to be combined with the alongwind ones. Starting from a general but quite hermetic solution developed by Piccardo and Solari at the end of the 1990s, this paper introduces a series of simplifications that, without limiting the correctness and generality of this approach, lead to simplified formulas for evaluating the alongwind, crosswind, and torsional equivalent static actions on slender structures and structural elements, which can be easily transferred to design practice and code provisions. These formulas also correct a slight mistake in the previous solution.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This study has been carried out in the framework of the Research Project of Relevant National Interest (PRIN 2015) “Identification and Diagnostic of Complex Structural Systems,” funded by the Italian Ministry of Instruction and Scientific Research (MIUR), Prot. 2015TTJN95.
References
Architectural Institute of Japan. (2005). AIJ recommendations for loads on buildings, Tokyo.
Ballio, G., Maberini, F., and Solari, G. (1992). “A 60 years old, 100 m high steel tower: Limit states under wind actions.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 43(1–3), 2089–2100.
Calotescu, P. I., and Solari, G. (2016). “Alongwind load effects on free-standing lattice towers.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 155, 182–196.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). (2005). “Actions on structures. 1–4: Actions in general—Wind actions.” EN 1991-1-4:2005, Eurocode 1, Brussels, Belgium.
Chen, X., and Kareem, A. (2005). “Dynamic wind effects on buildings with 3D coupled modes: Application of high frequency force balance measurements.” J. Eng. Mech., 1115–1125.
Davenport, A. G. (1961). “The application of statistical concepts to the wind loading of structures.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 19(4), 449–472.
Davenport, A. G. (1964). “Note on the distribution of the largest value of a random function with application to gust loading.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., 28(2), 187–196.
Davenport, A. G. (1967). “Gust loading factors.” J. Struct. Div., 93(3), 11–34.
Davenport, A. G. (1995). “How can we simplify and generalize wind loads.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 54–55, 657–669.
ECCS (European Convention for Constructional Steelwork). (1978). Recommendations for the calculation of wind effects on buildings and structures, Brussels, Belgium.
ESDU (Engineering Sciences Data Unit). (1976). “The response of flexible structures to atmospheric turbulence.”, London.
ESDU (Engineering Sciences Data Unit). (1993). “Lift-curve slope for structural response calculations.”, London.
Holmes, J. D. (1994). “Along-wind response of lattice towers. I: Derivation of expressions for gust response factors.” Eng. Struct., 16(4), 287–292.
Holmes, J. D. (1996). “Along-wind response of lattice towers. III: Effective load distributions.” Eng. Struct., 18(7), 489–494.
Holmes, J. D. (2002). “Effective static load distributions in wind engineering.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 90(2), 91–109.
Holmes, J. D., Schafer, B. L., and Banks, R. W. (1992). “Wind-induced vibration of a large broadcasting tower.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 43(1–3), 2101–2109.
Huang, G., and Chen, X. (2007). “Wind load effects and equivalent static wind loads of tall buildings based on synchronous pressure measurements.” Eng. Struct., 29(10), 2641–2653.
ISO. (2009). “Wind actions on structures.” ISO 4354, Geneva.
Kasperski, M. (1992). “Extreme wind load distributions for linear and nonlinear design.” Eng. Struct., 14(1), 27–34.
Kwon, D. K., and Kareem, A. (2013). “Comparative study of major international wind codes and standards for wind effects on tall buildings.” Eng. Struct., 51, 23–35.
Kwon, D. K., and Kareem, A. (2014). “Revisiting gust averaging time and gust effect factor in ASCE 7.” J. Struct. Eng., 06014004-1–06014004-7.
Kwon, D. K., Kijewski-Correa, T., and Kareem, A. (2008). “e-Analysis of high-rise buildings subjected to wind loads.” J. Struct. Eng., 134(7), 1139–1153.
Lutes, L. D., and Sarkani, S. (1997). Stochastic analysis of structural and mechanical vibrations, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Muller, F. P., and Nieser, H. (1975). “Measurements of wind-induced vibrations on a concrete chimney.” J. Ind. Aerodyn., 1, 239–248.
National Research Council. (2010). “Guide for the assessment of wind actions and effects on structures.” CNR-DT 207/2008, Rome.
Nguyen, C. H., Freda, A., Solari, G., and Tubino, F. (2015). “Aeroelastic stability and wind-excited response of complex lighting poles and antenna masts.” Eng. Struct., 85, 264–276.
Øiseth, O., Rönnquist, A., and Sigbjörnsson, R. (2013). “Effects of co-spectral densities of atmospheric turbulence on the dynamic response of cable-supported bridges: A case study.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 116, 83–93.
Pagnini, L. C. (2016). “A numerical approach for the evaluation of wind-induced effects on inclined, slender structural elements.” Eur. J. Envir. Civ. Eng., 21(7–8), 854–873.
Pagnini, L. C., and Piccardo, G. (2017). “A generalized gust factor technique for evaluating the wind-induced response of aeroelastic structures sensitive to vortex-induced vibrations.” J. Fluids Struct., 70, 181–200.
Piccardo, G., and Solari, G. (1996). “A refined model for calculating 3-D equivalent static wind forces on structures.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 65(1–3), 21–30.
Piccardo, G., and Solari, G. (1998a). “Closed form prediction of 3-D wind-excited response of slender structures.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 74–76, 697–708.
Piccardo, G., and Solari, G. (1998b). “Generalized equivalent spectrum technique.” Wind Struct., 1(2), 161–174.
Piccardo, G., and Solari, G. (2000). “3-D wind-excited response of slender structures: Closed form solution.” J. Struct. Eng., 126(8), 936–943.
Piccardo, G., and Solari, G. (2002). “3-D gust effect factor for slender vertical structures.” Prob. Eng. Mech., 17(2), 143–155.
Repetto, M. P., and Solari, G. (2004). “Equivalent static wind actions on vertical structures.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 92(5), 335–357.
Simiu, E. (1976). “Equivalent static wind loads for tall building design.” J. Struct. Div., 102(ST4), 719–737.
Simiu, E. (1980). “Revised procedure for estimating alongwind response.” J. Struct. Div., 106(ST1), 1–10.
Solari, G. (1982). “Alongwind response estimation: Closed form solution.” J. Struct. Div., 108(ST1), 225–244.
Solari, G. (1983). “Analytical estimation of the alongwind response of structures.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 14(1–3), 467–477.
Solari, G. (1988). “Equivalent wind spectrum technique: Theory and applications.” J. Struct. Eng., 114(6), 1303–1323.
Solari, G. (1989). “Wind response spectrum.” J. Eng. Mech., 115(9), 2057–2073.
Solari, G. (1990). “A generalized definition of gust factor.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 36(1), 539–548.
Solari, G. (1993a). “Gust buffeting. I: Peak wind velocity and equivalent pressure.” J. Struct. Eng., 119(2), 365–382.
Solari, G. (1993b). “Gust buffeting. II: Dynamic alongwind response.” J. Struct. Eng., 119(2), 383–398.
Solari, G., and Kareem, A. (1998). “On the formulation of ASCE7-95 gust effect factor.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 77–78, 673–684.
Solari, G., and Pagnini, L. C. (1999). “Gust buffeting and aeroelastic behaviour of poles and monotubolar towers.” J. Fluids Struct., 13(7–8), 877–905.
Solari, G., and Piccardo, G. (2001). “Probabilistic 3-D turbulence modeling for gust buffeting of structures.” Prob. Eng. Mech., 16(1), 73–86.
Solari, G., and Repetto, M. P. (2002). “General tendencies and classification of vertical structures under wind loads.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 90(11), 1299–1319.
Solari, G., and Tubino, F. (2002). “A turbulence model based on principal components.” Prob. Eng. Mech., 17(4), 327–335.
Tamura, Y., Kareem, A., Solari, G., Kwok, K. C. S., Holmes, J. D., and Melbourne, W. H. (2005). “Aspects of the dynamic wind-induced response of structures and codification.” Wind Struct., 8(4), 251–268.
Tamura, Y., Kawai, H., Uematsu, Y., Marukawa, H., Fujii, K., and Taniike, Y. (1996). “Wind loads and wind-induced response estimations in the Recommendations for loads on buildings, AIJ.” Eng. Struct., 18(6), 399–411.
Vellozzi, J., and Cohen, E. (1968). “Gust response factors.” J. Struct. Div., 94(ST6), 1295–1313.
Verboom, G. K., and Van Koten, H. (2010). “Vortex excitation: Three design rules tested on 13 industrial chimneys.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 98(3), 145–154.
Vickery, B. J. (1970). “On the reliability of gust loading factors.” Proc., Technical Meeting Concerning Wind Loads on Buildings and Structures, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC, 93–104.
Vickery, B. J., and Basu, R. I. (1983a). “Across-wind vibrations of structures of circular cross-section. I: Development of a mathematical model for two-dimensional conditions.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 12(1), 49–73.
Vickery, B. J., and Basu, R. I. (1983b). “Across-wind vibrations of structures of circular cross-section. II: Development of a mathematical model for full-scale application.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 12(1), 75–97.
Zhou, Y., Gu, M., and Xiang, H. (1999a). “Alongwind static equivalent wind loads and response of tall buildings. I: Unfavorable distributions of static equivalent wind loads.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 79(1–2), 135–150.
Zhou, Y., Gu, M., and Xiang, H. (1999b). “Alongwind static equivalent wind loads and response of tall buildings. II: Effects of mode shape.” J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn., 79(1–2), 151–158.
Zhou, Y., and Kareem, A. (2001). “Gust loading factor: New model.” J. Struct. Eng., 127(2), 168–175.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 2 • February 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 14, 2017
Accepted: Jul 17, 2017
Published online: Nov 17, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 17, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.