WIND LOAD

• Wind load is produced due to change in

momentum of an air current striking the
surface of a building.
• A building is less likely to experience the
other design loads in its life but it is almost
certain that the building is likely to be
subjected to the design wind loads.
• If the building is very tall, the wind velocity
varies along the height and sophisticated
codes account for this effect.
 e

In designing for wind, a building cannot be

considered independent of its surroundings. The
influence of nearby buildings and of the land
configuration can be substantial.
The horizontal swings may not be dangerous but
may cause motion sickness in the occupants.
The modern skyscraper, which uses lightweight
curtain walls, dry partitions, and high strength
materials, is more prone to wind motion problems
than the early skyscrapers, which had enormous
weight of the masonry partitions, heavy stone
facades, and massive structural members.
Keeping the movements in the upper levels of
the building to acceptable human tolerances is
the goal of the structural engineer.
Wind loads change rapidly and even abruptly,
creating effects much larger than if the same
loads were applied gradually.
In designing tall buildings to withstand wind
forces, the following are important factors that
must be considered:
1. Strength and stability requirements of the
structural system.
2. Fatigue in structural members and
connections caused by fluctuating wind
loads.
3. Excessive lateral deflection that causes
cracking of partitions and external cladding,
misalignment of mechanical systems and
doors, and possible permanent
deformations.
4. Frequency and amplitude of sway that can
cause discomfort to the occupants.
 5. Possible buffeting that may increase the
magnitudes of wind velocities on
neighboring buildings.
6. Effects on pedestrians.
7. Annoying acoustical disturbances.
8. Resonance of building oscillations with
the vibrations of elevator hoist ropes.

The variations in the speed of prevailing and seasonal

winds are referred to as fluctuations in mean
velocity. The variations in the local winds, which are
of a smaller character, are referred to as gusts.
Wind speeds of 30 to 110 km/h are typically
reached in a thunderstorm and are accompanied
with swirling wind action exerting high suction
forces on roofing and cladding elements.
In a fully developed hurricane, winds reach speeds
up to 110 to 130 km/h, and in severe hurricanes
can attain velocities as high as 325 km/h.
Tornadoes develop within severe thunderstorms
and hurricanes and consist of rotating column of
air, accompanied by a funnel-shaped downward
extension of a dense cloud having a vortex of
several meters, typically 60 to 245 m in diameter
whirling destructively at speeds up to 480 km/h.
The pressure at the center of a tornado is
extremely low, so that as the storm passes over a
building, the pressure inside the structure is far
greater than that outside, causing the building to
literally explode.
The average or mean wind speed used in many
building codes of the United States is the fastest-
mile wind, which can be thought of as the
maximum velocity measured over one mile of wind
passing through an anemometer.
The only accurate way to determine the gust factor
is to conduct a wind tunnel test.
It is surprising for a beginner the wind also
produces forces in a direction perpendicular to it.
There appear to be three distinctly different
reasons why a building responds in a direction at
right angles to the applied wind forces; these
are:
1. The biaxial displacement induced in the
structure because of either asymmetry in
geometry or in applied wind loading.
2. The turbulence of wind.
3. The negative-pressure wake or trail on the
building sides.
For tall buildings it appears that the crosswind
response is caused mainly by the wake.
Consider a cylindrically shaped building
subjected to a smooth wind flow.
The original parallel stream lines are displaced
on either side of the cylinder, and this results in
spiral vortices being shed periodically from the
sides of the cylinder into the downstream flow
of wind which is called the wake.