Determination of the effect of Structure

Cross-Section to the Wind Response

ROSAL SANTOS ULANDAY VILLAFUERTE

ABSTRACT MATERIALS AND

PROCEDURE
Wind load is one of the most critical design parameters for
buildings. In order to minimize the effect of wind, several
Four Styrofoam blocks are used in the experiment, each with
methods are made. Shape of building is one of such
a different cross-sectional area (rectangle, triangular, flat
approaches. This project presents a study of the effect of
plate, and cylindrical). They are each exposed to increasing
building shape on the response to wind. Three different
wind velocities and the level at which they fall down is
shapes of buildings have been considered to model a specific
recorded and compared to other shapes. Their dimensions
length away from the source with varying wind intensities.
are given below:
The result depicts that shape of building has a noticeable
effect in the forces applied by the wind.

THEORY The experimental set-up for one of the shapes is shown

below:

The world is currently undergoing the biggest wave of tall

building construction in history. The use of higher-strength
materials, lightweight floors, and curtain wall system in the
construction of tall buildings has reduced building weight,
stiffness, and damping values. Therefore, tall buildings are
more susceptible to wind loads and wind-induced excitations
which have the potential to reduce their structural safety and
cause discomfort to the occupants. Also, these excessive
motions can create high base loads which increase the cost
of the structure.

The wind-induced response of tall buildings is usually
dominated by dynamic acrosswind loading resulting from
wind vortex shedding as shown in Fig. 1b. When wind blows
over a bluff structure, flow separates and causes periodic
shedding of vortices. This periodic vortex shedding exerts
acrosswind forces on the body by creating fluctuating
pressures. Strouhal number is a non-dimensional parameter
that defines the dominant frequency of the fluctuations in the
acrosswind forces and is expressed as (Eq. (1)):
RESULTS
As expected, the flat plate was the first to fall. However the
cylinder was the one who fell with the least wind load of the
remaining shapes. The next would be the rectangular prism
and the most stable cross section is found to be the
triangular prism.
The obtained result is contrasting to the theory presented as
the cylindrical block is expected to be the most aerodynamic
and thus, most resistive of the three in terms of wind load.
This experiment may be further explored through the use of
other materials that might be more representative of actual
buildings.

where, f is the frequency of vortex shedding, S is the Strouhal

number, U is the wind speed and B is the building width.