Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Database-Assisted Design and Wind Directionality Effects

Published

Author(s)

A Rigato, P C. Chang, Emil Simiu

Abstract

We present a simple methodology, developed for use in design assisted by electronic aerodynamic and climatological databases (for short, database-assisted design), that allows a realistic assessment of wind directionality effects. We apply the methodology to typical low-rise industrial steel frame buildings with a rectangular shape in plan, located in hurricane-prone areas. We compare our results with results obtained by the procedure specified in the ASCE 7-98 Standard which, for buildings, consists of applying a blanket directionality reduction factor Kd=0.85 to wind effects obtained by disregarding directionality. The results show that, for significant numbers of buildings in hurricane-prone areas, the use of the ASCE procedure can result in the understimation of wind effects corresponding to strength design. They also show that database-assisted design for wind loads offers the potential for significantly more risk-consistent, safer, and more economical design for buildings with both known and unknown orientation.
Proceedings Title
Proceedings Fourth International Colloquium of Bluff Body Aerodynamics
Volume
90 No. 11
Conference Dates
September 11-14, 2000
Conference Location
Bochum, 1, GE
Conference Title
International Colloquium of Bluff Body Aerodynamics

Keywords

aerodynamics, building codes, building technology, climatology, databases, directionality (wind), extreme winds, structural engineering, wind engineering

Citation

Rigato, A. , Chang, P. and Simiu, E. (2002), Database-Assisted Design and Wind Directionality Effects, Proceedings Fourth International Colloquium of Bluff Body Aerodynamics, Bochum, 1, GE, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860241 (Accessed October 10, 2024)

Issues

If you have any questions about this publication or are having problems accessing it, please contact reflib@nist.gov.

Created October 31, 2002, Updated October 12, 2021