Wind loading and structural response

Lecture 20 Dr. J.D. Holmes

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Entertainment centres, exhibition centres, sports arenas etc

Quasi-steady approach is not applicable

Resonant effects can be significant

Bending moments in arches and domes are sensitive to distribution of wind load

Large roofs and sports stadiums

General flow characteristics :
Separation
bubble

Stagnation
Point

Mainly attached flow on large roofs

Shear layer positions:

High turbulence
Low turbulence

Fluctuating reattachment
point

Large roofs and sports stadiums

General flow characteristics :

Separation
point

On arched roof, separation occurs downstream of apex

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Mean pressure distributions :

1.0

U.W.O.
Wind-tunnel tests

Fluctuations in pressure will generate downwards pressures for short times

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Mean net pressure distributions (cantilevered stadium roof):
blocked at rear
C/L

0.0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.4
-0.8

-0.7

-0.6

-1.0
-1.1
-1.2
-1.3
-1.4

gap at rear reduces net pressures

0.1

0.2
0.1

0.0

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Arched roof :

he

S
L

wind loads depend strongly on R/S (rise/span)

less strongly on L/S and he/S

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Arched roof (Cp) :

-0.3 -0.5 -0.6 -0.8 -0.4 0

+0.5

+0.3
+0.4
+0.2
-0.5
-0.3 -0.4
-0.25

R/S = 0.2 he/R = 0.45 L/S = 1.0 = 0o

increasing L/S pressures on roof become more negative

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Arched roof (Cp) :

+0.4

-0.3

+0.2

+0.3
+0.2

-0.7

-0.5

-1.0
-0.4

-0.7

+0.2

-0.7

-0.4

+0.3

+0.1

-0.2

-0.6

0
-0.5

higher negative values

-0.5
-0.6

-0.5
-0.6
-0.45
-0.7

-0.4

-0.9

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Arched roof (Cp) :

-0.7
-0.15 -0.2
-0.3 -0.5

0
+0.5
-0.5

+0.4
+0.2

-0.15
-0.7

-0.9

lower negative values

-0.3 -0.4
-0.5
-0.25

-0.2

R/S = 0.5 he/R = 0.45 L/S = 1.0 = 0o

positive

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions

Instantaneous pressure distributions vary greatly from time to time due to

turbulence, vortex generation etc. Shapes may vary greatly from the mean
pressure distribution
Need to identify those distributions which produce maximum load effects

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions

Wind-tunnel methods for design wind loads :

1) Direct approach : simultaneous time histories from the whole roof are recorded
and stored. Later weighted with structural influence coefficients to obtain time
histories of load effects. Instantaneous pressure distributions are identified and
averaged.
2) Correlations between pressure fluctuations at different parts of the roof are measured
and used to determine effective static load distributions (Lecture 13, Chapter 5)

Correlations for separated parts of a large roof are low: hence potential
for significant reduction in peak effective loads and peak load effects
(b.m.s, axial forces etc.)

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Arch roof (Kasperski,1992) :

45

Cp=0.5

Extreme load distribution for the support reaction, R

Extreme load distribution for the bending moment at C
Gust pressure envelope

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Sydney Olympics, 2000

Superdome

Stadium
Australia

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Sydney Olympics, 2000 - 1/500 wind-tunnel model

Superdome

Stadium
Australia

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Stadium Australia (Sydney Olympics, 2000)

21

6
9

23

20
8

24

18

11

10

15

17

19
12

Panel layout for wind-tunnel testing

13

14

16

22

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Stadium Australia (Sydney Olympics, 2000)
WSW wind

pressure coefficient for minimum load in Member 23 Area 8

-1.2
-0.8
-0.4

180
160
140
120
100
80

20
60
40

40
20

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Stadium Australia (Sydney Olympics, 2000)

ESE wind

pressure coefficient for max load in Member 1454 Main arch

0
0.2
0.4

20
40
180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Superdome (Sydney Olympics, 2000)
7

10
20

19

18

21

27

11

23

12

28

26
4

22

25

17

16

15

24

13
2

14

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - effective static load distributions
Superdome (Sydney Olympics, 2000)
0.3

SSE

0.2

Pressure /kPa

0.1
0
1

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

-0.1

Panel Number

-0.2
-0.3
-0.4

WSW

-0.5
-0.6

Extreme pressure limits

Correlation approach

Direct approach

Effective static load distributions for axial loads in a particular roof member

Large roofs and sports stadiums

Structural loads - contribution from resonant modes
Usually not significant for roofs supported all round or on two sides
May be significant for cantilevered roofs :
Vertical
upwards

Time

Very large roofs may have several modes below 1 Hertz

- contributions to load effects depend on similarity of mode shapes with
influence lines

End of Lecture 20
John Holmes
225-405-3789 JHolmes@lsu.edu