A unified framework for performance-based wind engineering of tall buildings in hurricane-prone regions based on lifetime intervention-cost estimation

Abstract

Accurate evaluation of structural performance is necessary in modern tall building design. In wind engineering, the current approach employed by researchers is the Monte-Carlo sampling method. Structural failure probability is calculated by combining structural fragility curves with the random variability of wind speed and direction, depending on local wind climate. In the hurricane-prone regions of the USA, wind climate and its effects on building response require accurate assessment of wind-induced structural performance.This paper proposes a simulation framework for tall buildings that combines fragility analysis with local wind climate information to evaluate structural vulnerability. Hurricane wind climate information directly considers maximum wind speed, wind direction along with their correlation at hurricane landfall. Consequently, structural fragility surfaces will be generated, conditional on these two variables. This result will be used to examine lifetime intervention cost accumulation, associated with nonstructural damage on the building façade, and to determine an “optimal” wind-direction-dependent building orientation.