The estimation of wind speed values used in codes and standards is an integral part of the wind load evaluation process. In a number of codes and standards, wind speeds outside of tropical cyclone prone regions are estimated using a single probability distribution developed from observed wind speed data, with no distinction made between the types of causal wind hazard (e.g., thunderstorm). Non-tropical cyclone wind hazards (i.e., thunderstorm, non-thunderstorm) have been shown to possess different probability distributions and estimation of non-tropical cyclone wind speeds based on a single probability distribution has been shown to underestimate wind speeds. Current treatment of non-tropical cyclone wind hazards in worldwide codes and standards is touched upon in this work. Meteorological data is available at a considerable number of United States (U.S.) stations that have information on wind speed as well as the type of causal wind hazard. In this paper, probability distributions are fit to distinct storm types (i.e., thunderstorm and non-thunderstorm) and the results of these distributions are compared to fitting a single probability distribution to all data regardless of storm type (i.e., co-mingled). Distributions fitted to data separated by storm type and co-mingled data will also be compared to a derived (i.e., "mixed") probability distribution considering multiple storm types independently. This paper will analyze two extreme value distributions (e.g., Gumbel, generalized Pareto). It is shown that mixed probability distribution, on average, is a more conservative measure for extreme wind speed estimation. Using a mixed distribution is especially conservative in situations where a given wind speed value for either storm type has a similar probability of occurrence, and/or when a less frequent storm type produces the highest overall wind speeds. U.S. areas prone to multiple non-tropical cyclone wind hazards are identified.

A new theoretical model on rain-wind induced vibration (RWIV) of a continuous stay cable is developed in this paper. Different from the existing theoretical analyses in which the cable was modeled as a segmental rigid element, the proposed scheme focuses on the in-plane and out-of-plane responses of a continuous stay cable, which is identical with the prototype cable on cable-stayed bridge. In order to simplify the complexities, the motion law of the rivulet on the cable surface is assumed as a sinusoidal way according to some results obtained from wind tunnel tests. Quasi-steady theory is utilized to determine the aerodynamic forces on the cable. Equations of motion of the cable are derived in a Cartesian Coordinate System and solved by using finite difference method to obtain the in-plane and out-of-plane responses of the cable. The results show that limited cable amplitudes are achieved within a limited range of wind velocity, which is a unique characteristic of RWIV of stay cable. It appears that the in-plane cable amplitude is much larger than the out-of-plane cable amplitude. Rivulet frequency, rivulet distribution along cable axis, and mean wind velocity profile, all have significant effects on the RWIV responses of the prototype stay cable. The effects of damping ratio on RWIVs of stay cables are carefully investigated, which suggests that damping ratio of 1% is needed to well mitigate RWIVs of prototype stay cables.

While effects of the atmospheric boundary layer flow on engineering infrastructure are more or less known, some local transient winds create difficulties for structures, traffic and human activities. Hence, further research is required to fully elucidate flow characteristics of some of those very unique local winds. In this study, important characteristics of observed vertical velocity profiles along the main wind direction for the gusty Bora wind blowing along the eastern Adriatic coast are presented. Commonly used empirical power-law and the logarithmic-law profiles are compared against unique 3-level high-frequency Bora measurements. The experimental data agree well with the power-law and logarithmic-law approximations. An interesting feature observed is a decrease in the power-law exponent and aerodynamic surface roughness length, and an increase in friction velocity with increasing Bora wind velocity. This indicates an urban-like velocity profile for smaller wind velocities and rural-like velocity profile for larger wind velocities, which is due to a stronger increase in absolute velocity at each of the heights observed as compared to the respective velocity gradient (difference in average velocity among two different heights). The trends observed are similar during both the day and night. The thermal stratification is near neutral due to a strong mechanical mixing. The differences in aerodynamic surface roughness length are negligible for different time averaging periods when using the median. For the friction velocity, the arithmetic mean proved to be independent of the time record length, while for the power-law exponent both the arithmetic mean and the median are not influenced by the time averaging period. Another issue is a large difference in aerodynamic surface roughness length when calculating using the arithmetic mean and the median. This indicates that the more robust median is a more suitable parameter to determine the aerodynamic surface roughness length than the arithmetic mean value. Variations in velocity profiles at the same site during different wind periods are interesting because, in the engineering community, it has been commonly accepted that the aerodynamic characteristics at a particular site remain the same during various wind regimes.

This paper presents a comprehensive study of pressure developed on different faces of a 'Y' plan shape tall building using both numerical and experimental means. The experiment has been conducted in boundary layer wind tunnel located at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India for flow condition corresponding to terrain category II of IS:875 (Part 3) - 1987, at a mean wind velocity of 10 m/s. Numerical study has been carried out under similar condition using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package of ANSYS, namely ANSYS CFX. Two turbulence models, viz., $k-{\varepsilon}$ and Shear Stress Transport (SST) have been used. Good conformity among the numerical and experimental results have been observed with SST model yielding results of higher magnitude. Peculiar pressure distribution on certain faces has been observed due to interference effect. Furthermore, flow pattern around the model has also been studied to explain the phenomenon occurring around the model.

This paper investigates the topographic effects on wind characteristics over hilly terrain, based on wind data recorded at a number of meteorological stations in or near complex terrain. The multiply data sources allow a more detailed investigation of the flow field than is normally possible. Vertical profiles of mean and turbulent wind components from a Sodar profiler were presented and then modeled as functions of height and wind speed. The correlations between longitudinal and vertical wind components were discussed. The phenomena of flow separation and generation of vortices were observed. The distance-dependence of the topographic effects on gust factors was revealed subsequently. Furthermore, the canyon effect was identified and discussed based on the observations of wind at a saddle point between two mountain peaks. This study aims to further understanding of the characteristics of surface wind over rugged terrain. The presented results are expected to be useful for structural design, prevention of pollutant dispersion, and validation of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) models or techniques over complex terrains.

Using synchronous surface pressures from the wind tunnel test, the three dimensional wind load models of high-rise buildings are established. Furthermore, the internal force responses of symmetric high-rise buildings in along-wind, across-wind and torsional directions are evaluated based on mode acceleration method, which expresses the restoring force as the summation of quasi-static force and inertia force components. Accordingly the calculation methods of equivalent static wind loads, in which the contributions of the higher modes can be considered, of symmetric high-rise buildings in along-wind, across-wind and torsional directions are deduced based on internal forces equivalence. Finally the equivalent static wind loads of an actual symmetric high-rise building are obtained by this method, and compared with the along-wind equivalent static wind loads obtained by China National Standard.