Model- and full-scale comparison of fatigue-related characteristics of wind pressures on the Texas Tech Building

Abstract

Abstract A comparison of fatigue characteristics of wind pressures on the Texas Tech University Experimental Building at model and full scale is made following a comparison of pressure coefficients and stochastic characteristics of the wind pressures. Fatigue characteristics, obtained by using a rainflow count method, consist of the number of cycles, cycle histogram, and the largest peak coefficient. The relevant stochastic characteristics of wind pressures are power spectrum, probability distribution, and extreme value distribution. It is found that there is a reasonable agreement of the number of cycles and cycle histogram when the sampling frequency, the sampling length, and particularly the cut-off frequency used in the model tests are equivalent to those used in the full-scale tests. The largest negative peak coefficients of the wind pressures at the roof edge and roof corner are however underestimated by the model tests. These results are consistent with the comparison of the stochastic characteristics of the wind pressures.