Probabilistic descriptions of wind effects for database-assisted design

Abstract

This chapter presents a database-assisted design (DAD)-compatible probabilistic procedure and the attendant WiLEP software for estimating wind effects corresponding to any mean recurrence interval of the wind speeds. DAD for wind results in structures with reduced material consumption and failure risks or in improved safety and sustainability. The procedure presented in this chapter can be used for structural reliability purposes, for estimating wind load factors to be specified in standards, and to achieve risk-consistent designs. DAD for wind results in structures with reduced material consumption and failure risks and in improved safety and sustainability. This paper describes a database-assisted and reliability-based design procedure to estimate wind-load effects. The procedure incorporates measures of uncertainty pertaining to all relevant factors that influence the wind effects of interest. The following sections describe the computational, physical, and probabilistic models pertaining to the wind effects, peak coefficients, and wind speeds. Wind-load factors can be estimated once the probabilistic descriptions of the wind-load effects corresponding to specified mean recurrence intervals are obtained.