WIND LOADING EFFECTS ON HIGH-RISE REINFORCED CONCRETE

BUILDINGS
Sarita Anand1, Piyali Sengupta2 and Satadru Das Adhikary3
1
M. Tech Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand
826004, India, E-mail: sarita.anand786@gmail.com
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand
826004 India, E-mail: 2009piyali@gmail.com
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand
826004 India, E-mail: 2009satadru@gmail.com

1. Abstract
Rapid growth of urbanization across the world leads to construction of several high-rise buildings which are
particularly sensitive to wind loading. Therefore, it is crucial that the high-rise buildings are designed to resist the wind
loading expected to occur in their service life to an appropriate degree of reliability. An increasing trend of natural
hazards including wind induced disasters has spread growing interest among the researchers across the world to
investigate the effect of wind loading on high-rise reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Wind is a random dynamic
loading that varies with height, topography and terrain. Wind generally flows due to the differences in atmospheric
pressure of various places and depending upon the intensities it has several forms such as gales and monsoon wind,
cyclones, tornados, thunderstorms and localized storms etc. High-rise buildings are three dimensional flexible structures
with a variety of plan geometries. They exhibit dynamic response under the action of wind loading and vibrate due to
the turbulence inherent to the wind as well as that generated by the structure due to separation of the flow. The dynamic
forces in the structures not only act in the direction of the wind flow, but also in a direction perpendicular to the flow.
Therefore, high-rise buildings exhibit an along-wind as well as across-wind responses under the action of wind loading.
Additionally, the interference effect of wind loading on multiple high-rise buildings standing adjacent to each other is of
high significance. Basic wind speed is calculated for a 50 year return period based on peak gust velocity averaged over a
short time interval of about 3 seconds corresponding to mean heights above ground level in an open terrain. From the
basic wind speed map of India, as applicable to 10 m height above mean ground level, different wind zones of the
country can be obtained to calculate the design wind load. Further, as per the Indian code, buildings are classified into
different classes based on the maximum dimension of the structures along with their cladding, roofing and glazing.
Terrain category is also essential in wind load analysis in order to incorporate the effect of obstructions which constitute
the ground surface roughness. Terrain categories are decided based on the average height of the obstruction surrounding
the structures. The effect of topography is crucial for wind load analysis since presence of local topographic features
such as hills, valleys, cliffs, escarpments or ridges can significantly affect wind speed in their vicinity. Wind speed gets
accelerated near the summits of hills or crests of cliffs, escarpments or ridges and decelerated in valleys or near the foot
of cliff, steep escarpments or ridges.
This research synthesizes existing research from the literature on wind load analysis of high-rise RC buildings to
provide better understanding in this area. Furthermore, the effects of different terrain categories, locations and plan
geometries on performance of high-rise RC buildings under wind loading are thoroughly investigated using numerical
modeling approach. Excerpts from the exhaustive literature review and parametric studies may be helpful for
researchers and practicing engineers to initiate their future academic venture in the proposed area with further
refinement and accuracy.
Keywords: Reinforced Concrete; Buildings; High-rise; Wind Loading; Damage

2. Introduction
Due to sunlight, the earth surface gets heated inequitably, which causes pressure difference and this pressure
difference forces huge flow of gases. This huge flow of gases is called wind. Wind blowing with speed 62-74 km/hr is
considered strong wind and when this speed exceeds more than 75km/hr, it is named as “wind gale”. High speed wind
causes destruction in the civil engineering structures like tall buildings as shown in Figure 1. Tall buildings are very
sensitive to the wind motion as wind uproots the roof of buildings, causes twisting and bending moment in structures,
sometimes severely damaging them. When the speed of gales increases they turns into “tornados” and “hurricanes”;
which are highly destructive in nature. From civil engineering point of view, it is important to ensure the safety of
structures. A tall building should be designed such that it can survive even severe wind loading condition without
noticeable harm to the building keeping in mind that the design should not be uneconomical.
Wind is randomly vacillating phenomenon. It varies with height, topography and terrain. According to IITK-
GSDMA Handbook on IS 875 (Part 3): 2016, every structure comes in a way of wind acts as a ‘Bluff Body’ whether it
is short or tall. The separation of flow in bluff body is not well defined while in non-bluff bodies it is well defined.
Wind flow is also affected by the shape and size of the structure, topography and terrain category of the location. If a
building is sharp edged the flow separation will be well defined.

Figure 1: Disastrous consequences of wind storm

1. Water submergence; 2,3,4,5. Wall damage and roof blown away; 6. Tower collapse; 7. Failure of a Tower;
8. Uprooted tree damage near building
Wind varies with time and space. Due to the unpredictable nature of wind, it is necessary to design the tall
structures by considering the critical effects of wind on the structure. Wind force depends upon exposed area of the
structure. The wind force depends upon terrain and topography of location as well as the nature of wind, size and shape
of structure and dynamic properties of building. It is very important to consider fluctuating component of wind pressure
while designing. Wind gusts cause fluctuating force on the structure which induced large dynamic motions and
oscillations. The structural systems of high rise buildings are usually sensitive to the effects of wind. Gust is the most
critical effect of the wind. The gust effectiveness factor method takes into account the dynamic properties of the
structure , the wind-structure interactions and then determines the wind loads as equivalent static loads. A Gust factor,
defined as the ratio between a peak wind gust and mean wind speed over a period of time can be used along with other
statistics to examine the structure of the wind. For rigid structures ‘equivalent static’ behaviour of wind loading is
considered in analyses. For wind sensitive structures like tall buildings and super tall buildings, wind–energy spectrum,
integral length scale, averaging time and the frequencies of the structure are key aspects for consideration. The building
is subjected to dynamic forces in direction of wind flow as well as in perpendicular direction of wind flow. This implies
that the tall buildings manifest along-wind response and across-wind response. Behaviour of the tall buildings (>12
Storeys, Height > 35m) are more critical than the short buildings (<12 Storeys, Height < 35m). Tall buildings manifest
static as well as dynamic behaviour in different wind conditions. Static behaviour is referred with exterior shape of
building while dynamic behaviour referred with exterior shape as well as motion of buildings. Each structure which
comes in the way of wind is subjected to wind forces. These applied forces by wind depend on the amplitude of wind
speed, terrain, topography and static and dynamic behaviour of the buildings. Dynamic oscillations are experienced by
all the structure whether it is short or tall due to gustiness of wind. Bending and twisting are caused by static loading;
fluctuating forces generated all over the structure. Tall and slender structures mostly get affected by the dynamic wind
load.
In this research, humble efforts are undertaken to explore the existing relevant literature. The code-based design
guidelines on wind load analysis of high-rise RC buildings are incorporated to provide better understanding in this area.
Furthermore, the effects of different terrain categories, locations and plan geometries on performance of high-rise RC
buildings under wind loading are thoroughly investigated using numerical modeling approach. The exhaustive literature
review and parametric studies may be helpful for researchers and practicing engineers to initiate their future research in
the proposed area with further refinement and accuracy.

3. Overview of Wind Loading of RC Buildings

A brief summary of the existing research on RC buildings under wind loading is presented below.
Ahmed et al. (2015) presented displacement occurred in different storey of the building due to wind in different
terrain category. Three building models i.e. G+10, G+20 and G+30 were analysed in ETABS. This paper itemized
variation in deflection under wind loading due to varying building heights and different terrain categories. Four terrain
categories were incorporated as defined below.
 • Exposed open terrain with few or no obstructions and in which average height of any object surrounding the
structure is less than 1.5 m. (TG1)
• Open terrain with well scattered obstructions having heights generally between I.5 to 10 m. (TG2)
• Terrain with numerous closely spaced obstructions having size of building-structures up to 10 m in height with
or without a few isolated tall structures. (TG3)
• Terrain with numerous large closely spaced obstructions. (TG4)
Dead load and live load are taken as per IS 875 (Part 1) (1987) and IS 875 (Part 2) (1987) respectively. Wind load
calculation has been done based on the IS 875 (Part 3) (1987).
• Dead load: self-weight of structure member, wall load, floor finish.
• Live load: live load on floor = 3KN/m2, live load on roof = 1.5KN/m2
• Wind load: wind speed = 47m/s
Deflection in different TGs were found out and get compared whose result are as follows:
• As the height of the model increases, deflection on top storey also increases
• Due to wind load, Deflection on model-3 is more than model-2 and model-1
• In Model-1: Deflection in TG-1 is 6%, 19% and 38.3% more than TG-2, TG-3, and TG-4 on top storey.
• In Model-2: Deflection in TG-1 is 5%, 15% and 24.5% more than TG-2, TG-3, and TG-4 on top storey.
• In Model-3: Deflection in TG-1 is 4%, 13% and 18.9% more than TG-2, TG-3, and TG-4 on top storey.
• But in all 3 models %age deflection between TG-1 and TG-4 is maximum at 3rd storey.
Wakchaure et al. (2015) studied the effects of shape on wind forces of high rise buildings using gust factor
approach. Different shapes (rectangular, square, elliptical ,circular) of building of height 150 m having equal plan area,
equal stiffness of column are considered for wind load analysis. Wind loads are determined based on gust effectiveness
factor method. The critical gust loads for design are determined. Different shapes are compared in various aspects such
as storey displacements, storey drifts, storey shear, axial forces in column etc.
The results show that performance can be improved by providing curvy edges as in case of elliptical and circular
shape as they provide more aerodynamic design as compared to rectangular and square. Buildings having circular or
elliptical plan forms have a smaller surface perpendicular to the wind direction. Thus, the wind pressure is less than the
same in prismatic buildings. Wind intensity as calculated with the help of gust factor was least in elliptical and then in
circular shape. With the change in shape of building from square to elliptical the wind intensity, storey drifts, the lateral
displacements, storey shear of the building decreased. Hence it is conclude that wind load is reduced by maximum
percentage with an elliptical plan. The result is summarized as follows:
• The percentage reduction in peak intensity of wind for circular building is 4.471 %, 68.392 % for elliptical
building and it is more by 15 % for rectangular building when compared with square building with gust factor.
• The percentage reduction in peak displacement is more by 3.08 % in circular building with gust factor in
longitudinal direction when compared with square building. The percentage reduction in peak displacement is 70.18 %
in elliptical building, it is more by 27 % in rectangular, 2.40 % in circular building when compared with square building
with gust factor in transverse direction.
• The percentage reduction in peak drift is increased by 10.75% in circular building with gust factor in
longitudinal direction when compared with square building. The percentage reduction in peak is decreased by 3.39% in
elliptical building, it is more by 119.49% in rectangular, 87.28% in circular building when compared with square
building with gust factor in transverse direction.
• The percentage reduction in peak storey shear is 30.57% in rectangular building,4.40% in elliptical building
and 68.37% in circular building with gust factor in longitudinal direction when compared with square building. The
percentage reduction in peak drift is decreased by 70.86% in elliptical building, it is more by 14% in rectangular, 1.27%
in circular building when compared with square building with gust factor in transverse direction.

4. Analysis of RC Buildings under Wind Loading

Two 30 storey building is modeled in this study with ground storey height of 3.5 m and remaining floor heights as 3 m.
The first building has a square plan with 8 bay in x and y directions. The typical bay width is 6 m. The second building
has a plus-shaped plan with the typical bay width is 6 m. The isometric views of the two buildings are shown in Figures
2 and 3 respectively. M30 Grade Concrete is used for beam, column and slab elements while Fe 415 Grade Steel is used
for Reinforcement bars. The detailing of beam and columns are shown in Figure 4. The slabs used for floor and roof
have thickness of 150mm. Thereafter, wind loading analyses are conducted for four cities and four terrain categories for
both the buildings.
 Figure 2: Isometric view of 30 storey building with Square plan

Figure 3: Isometric view of 30 storey building with Plus-shaped plan

Figure 4: Cross-sectional detailing of a Column (left) and a Beam (right)

4. Wind Analyses Results of RC Buildings

Deformation contours of RC buildings with square and plus-shaped cross-sections under wind loading for
displacement in x direction are shown in Figure 5. From the figure, it can be observed that the plus-shaped building will
experience a maximum displacement of 1.68 m at topmost storey while the square-shaped building will experience a
maximum displacement of 0.7 m at topmost storey. Therefore, it can be concluded that the change in plan geometry has
given rise to 140% increase in top displacement when the building is being subjected to wind loading. Similarly, the
deformation contours of RC buildings with square cross-sections located in four different cities under wind loading for
displacement in x direction are shown in Figure 6. Calcutta has a basic wind speed of 50 m/s, Delhi has a wind speed of
47 m/s, Mumbai has a wind speed of 44 m/s and Bangalore has a wind speed of 33 m/s. Therefore, the square-shaped
building when located in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore will experience maximum displacements of 0.7 m,
0.63 m, 0.56 m and 0.31 m at topmost storeys. Therefore, the plus-shaped building when located in Calcutta, Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore will experience maximum displacements of 1.68 m, 1.4 m, 1.26 m and 0.7 m at topmost
storeys.
 Figure 5: Deformation contours of RC buildings with square and plus-shaped cross-sections under wind loading for
displacement in x direction

a) Calcutta b) Delhi c) Mumbai d) Bangalore

Figure 6: Deformation contours under wind loading of RC buildings with square cross-section located in Calcutta,
Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for displacement in x direction

a) Calcutta b) Delhi c) Mumbai d) Bangalore

Figure 7: Deformation contours under wind loading of RC buildings with plus cross-section located in Calcutta, Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore for displacement in x direction
Conclusions:
From this entire research the following conclusions are drawn.
1) The plus-shaped building will experience a maximum displacement of 1.68 m at topmost storey while the
square-shaped building will experience a maximum displacement of 0.7 m at topmost storey. Therefore, it can be
concluded that the change in plan geometry has given rise to 140% increase in top displacement when the building is
being subjected to wind loading.
2) The deformation contours of RC buildings with square cross-sections located in four different cities under wind
loading for displacement in x direction are derived. Calcutta has a basic wind speed of 50 m/s, Delhi has a wind speed
of 47 m/s, Mumbai has a wind speed of 44 m/s and Bangalore has a wind speed of 33 m/s. Therefore, the square-shaped
building when located in Calcutta, Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore will experience maximum displacements of 0.7 m,
0.63 m, 0.56 m and 0.31 m at topmost storeys.
3) The deformation contours of RC buildings with plus-shaped cross-sections located in four different cities under
wind loading for displacement in x direction are derived. The plus-shaped building when located in Calcutta, Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore will experience maximum displacements of 1.68 m, 1.4 m, 1.26 m and 0.7 m at topmost
storeys.

References:
Ahmed, M. A., Amir, M., Komur, S., & Halhalli, V. (2015) Effect of wind load on tall buildings in different terrain
category. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, Volume: 04 Issue: 06, pp. 107 - 111.
IS 875 Part 3 (2015). Design Loads (other than Earthquake) for Buildings and Structures. Wind Loads. BIS, India, pp.
62.
Reddy, D. K., & Tupat, S. A. (2014). The effect of zone factors on wind and earthquake loads of high-rise structures.
In IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, International Conference on Advances in Engineering &
Technology, pp. 53-58.
Wakchaure, M. R., & Gawali, S. (2015). Effects of Shape on Wind Forces of High Rise Buildings Using Gust Factor
Approach. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research (IJSETR), Vol. 4 (8), pp. 2979-
2987.