Performance of cable-supported glass façades under time-depending wind action

Abstract

Cable supported glass façades are sensitive to wind action because of their flexibility. Conventional laboratory testing to check a façade reliability under the wind action is generally carried out by uniformly air pressure tests. However, the typical wind action on a surface is known to be not uniform because it varies due to building aerodynamics and wind flow turbulence, and this aspect should be properly considered for testing protocols. This paper discusses the structural response of cable-supported glass façades, through time history finite element (FE) analyses, under different wind action combinations that varies based on the building aerodynamics (plan shapes and roof curvatures), the wind direction (0° and 90°), and the glass panel position (up and down). Such a finding is further enforced by the presence of flexible supports for the constituent glass modules. The presented results show a strong dependence of the structural response on the wind action configuration, and thus suggest the need of new testing protocols for similar systems.

Peak Factor Deviation Ratio Method for Division of Gaussian and Non-Gaussian Wind Pressures on High-Rise Buildings

“…At present, the detailed researches on the nonstationary, non-Gaussian, unsteady, and nonlinear (aeroelastic e ect) of structural wind load and wind vibration e ect have attracted extensive attention [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. e latest wind tunnel test on the cablesupported glass facades provided the expected impact research for the surface wind action of the exible system represented by the facade of high-rise buildings [12]. At present, the determination method of extreme wind pressure on the structural cladding in most codes and standards [13][14][15] is based on the Gaussian assumption.…”