Experimental Measurements of the Shapes Adopted by Textiles when Subject to Wind Loading

Abstract

An investigation of the behaviour of Nylon and Polyester textiles subjected to wind loading was undertaken in an experimental study. Variable parameters of wind speed, incidence and excess length of the textiles were studied. As expected, increasing wind speeds and amount of slackness led to higher deflections above 4 degrees incidence. Below this angle large instabilities are found. Polyester with a higher air permeability, experienced greater levels of deflection at low slackness when compared to the Nylon. Only small differences in deflection were found between the textiles when using higher slackness ratios.