Far Eastern University

Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

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LECTURE READING 11: WIND ANALYSIS

When wind rhymes with "grinned," it refers to moving air, as in a breeze, or what fills the sails of a boat.
When wind rhymes with "kind," it means to turn, as in winding one's watch. There are all kinds of ways to wind: You
can wind a ball of yarn, wind up to take a swing, or wind your way home.

Wind can be destructive to structures when wind becomes typhoon. Structurally, wind is considered as
horizontal or lateral loadings. In the figure below, when wind is moving towards the structure, it is called positive
wind loads while wind moving away from the structure is called negative wind loads.

Wind can destroy our homes. It can uplift your house roof ( see figure below), it can overturn your house or it
can slide your house. In truss construction, wind moving towards the roof is called pressure while wind moving away
from the roof is called suction or lift.

In buildings (see figure below), wind moving towards the structure is called windward pressure while wind
moving away from the structure is called leeward pressure.

When wind become strong, it can be typhoon, cyclone or hurricane.(see figure below)
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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Typhoon, hurricane and cyclone are all the same. In southern hemisphere like Australia, it is called cyclone.
In northern hemisphere (Asian side), it is called typhoon while on the European and American side, it is called hurr
icane.

In the Philippines, the agency that is concern with typhoons is PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric
Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration). The strength of typhoons are designated into five signals as
seen in the table below.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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PAGASA also issued a rainfall warning system (see figure below) that corresponds to the volume of the
amount of rainfall. It is categorize into yellow, orange and red warnings. This is also a flood forecast warning.

Also there is also a storm surge warning (see figure below) for people living near sea shores and river
banks.

Regarding the names of typhoon locally, PAGASA issued four sets of typhoon names (see figure below). In
the year 2020, the typhoon names in the fourth column are used. It begins with AMBO and ends up with ZOSIMO if
there will be 25 typhoons that will visit the Philippines. The typhoon names are with respect to the alphabet with the
exclusion of letter x.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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If there will be more than 25 typhoons that will visit the country, PAGASA issued the auxiliary list of locally
typhoon names. The fourth column is used in 2020.

We have also international names of typhoon like typhoon HAIYAN internationally and typhoon YOLANDA
locally. There are 10 present international typhoon names given by the Philippines namely: (see figure below)

The moment there is a destructive typhoon that visit the Philippines and incur many deaths and destruction,
the typhoon name will be automatically deleted in the list or in other word, retired, There are two typhoon typhoon
names given by the Philippines that retired in the international list. Typhoon IMBUDO retired in 2004 and was
changed to typhoon MOLAVE while typhoon BILIS retired in 2008 and was changed to typhoon MALIKSI.

WIND is one of the most important factors that architects and engineers have to consider when designing
tall buildings. While skyscrapers might appear to be highly-strengthened, immovable structures, all tall buildings are
in fact designed with a degree of flexibility in mind. This is principally due to the impact that wind forces - known as
“wind loads” - have on a building as it becomes taller. Whilst you might be experiencing a pleasant breeze at street-
level, the force of the wind generally grows much stronger the higher up you travel.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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If a very strong wind struck the structure, the tendency of the structure is to sway. Excessive swaying might
cause to building to be damaged or worst thing it might be destroyed. The following are simple ways to prevent
excessive swaying of structures due to wind or ways to become wind resistance structure:

1) SETBACKS - In New York City, ordinances were passed that allowed tall buildings to develop on the
basis that they were set-back after reaching a certain height. This allowed sunlight to reach street-level whilst
breaking-up the facade and reducing the impact that high winds had on these towers.

2) VARYING CROSS SECTIONAL SHAPE – reduce impact of wind, it scatters the wind. Shanghai Tower is
an example of this method.

3) TAPERING - Tapering a building as it rises also breaks up the uniformity that causes vortex shedding
(wind impact).Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Towers and The Shard in London( see figure), both use this technique to
reduce the effect that high winds have on their structures.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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4) TWISTED - Creating a twist in a building’s form can also reduce the impact of vortex shedding. With
every floor offset to the last, the number of “bluff” areas across these structures is considerably reduced, minimising
- or in some cases completely eliminating - the locations where vortices can form. A good example of this is the
Turning Torso Building in Sweden.

5) CORNER SOFTENING - The first and by far simplest way to reduce the impact of high winds on a tall
building is with an approach called “corner softening”. Corner softening sees sharp edges smoothed-off of a
structure to make it more aerodynamic, or small cut outs created on the edges of an structure to “scramble”
prevailing winds and reduce the strength of the vortices they create. A prominent example is the ornamental design
of Taiwan’s Taipei 101, where relatively minor cut outs on the building’s corners reduced movement by as much as
25%.

6) SPOILER – reduces the impact of wind.

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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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7) DAMPER - In addition to the techniques that tall buildings use to tame the wind, some are also fitted
with dampers that counteract motion where it occurs. These incredibly heavy instruments are suspended - often on
the upper levels of skyscrapers - and sway as buildings move, counteracting motion and creating a more stable
environment for those inside.Several tall buildings already use these dampers - including Taipei 101 in Taiwan, and
the Trump World Tower and 432 Park Avenue New York.

8) OUTRIGGER - outer covering makes the structure wind resistant.

9) POROSITY - Another way to reduce the impact of high winds on tall buildings is to increase their
porosity, “cutting out” parts out of the structure and allowing air to flow through, as well as around the building mass.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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10) TIE-UP – only one building used this method and this is in Japan.

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF A STRUCTURE DUE TO WIND LOAD

BASIC WIND SPEED – Three-second gust speed at 10 m above the ground in Exposure C.
According to NSCP 2015, the maximum height of a low rise structure due to wind analysis is 18 m.

From page 2-109 of NSCP 2015, to solve the wind design pressure of a low rise building, you are to use this
formula:

P = qh [(GCpi) - (GCpf)]
where: P = wind design pressure
qh = velocity pressure
Gcpi = internal pressure coefficient
GCpf = external pressure coeeficient

VELOCITY PRESSURE (qh) – The formula below was taken on page 2-106 NSCP 2015:

qh = (47.30 x 10-6) Kz Kzt Kd V2 Iw

where: Kz = velocity pressure coefficient
Kzt = topographic factor
Kd = wind directionality factor
V = wind velocity
Iw = occupancy or importance factor
VELOCITY PRESSURE COEFFICIENT COEFFICIENT (Kz) – depends upon the total height of the structure
and the exposure category. Coefficient is found at page 2-112 NSCP 2015
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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For exposure category:

EXPOSURE A - City (not used anymore)

EXPOSURE B - Suburban area
EXPOSURE C - Open terrain
EXPOSURE D - Open waters

TOPOGRAPHIC FACTOR (Kzt) – From page 2-47 NSCP 2015:

Kzt = ( 1 + K1K2K3 )2

K1K2K3 are coefficient of escarpment and ridge. If site conditions do not meet all the condition
specified, Kzt = 1.
An escarpment is a cliff or steep slope generally separating two levels or gently sloping area. It is
also known as scarp. A ridge is an elongated crest of a hill characterized by strong relief in two directions.

WIND DIRECTIONALITY FACTOR (Kd) – given from the table below from page 2-42 NSCP 2015.

WIND VELOCITY (V) – This item is found on pages 2-38 to 2-40 NSCP 2015. It consist of three wind zone
maps of the Philippines defending on the occupancy categories.

OCCUPANCY OR IMPORTANCE FACTOR (IW) – depends on how important is your structure. Taken from
pages 1-6 to 1-7 NSCP 2015.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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Miscellaneous Structures also include agricultural structures like poultry, piggery, greenhouse and the likes.
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
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INTERNAL PRESSURE COEFFICIENT (GCpi) – depends upon if the building open, partially enclosed or
enclosed. A open building is a building having each wall at least 80% open. Partially enclosed building is a building
wherein the total area of opening is more than 10%. Coefficient are found on page 2-61 NSCP 2015.

EXTERNAL PRESSURE COEFFICIENT (GCpf) – depends upon the inclination of your truss and found
from page 2-111 NSCP 2015.