Wind Load Testing of Low Buildings to Failure at Model and Full Scale

Abstract

Testing of buildings and their components to failure under realistic wind loading is difficult under controlled conditions and presents a significant limitation in optimizing building performance. On one hand, the temporal and spatial variations of wind loads that occur in real wind storms are difficult to reproduce in a controlled fashion in full scale; on the other hand the system behavior of many low buildings, particularly houses, are difficult to predict analytically for any form of loading, let alone true dynamic wind loading patterns. This paper explores simple models that have reproduced certain forms of failure under realistic wind loads simulated in a wind tunnel, and introduces a planned full-scale test facility (the “Three Little Pigs” project) for entire small buildings that will be able to reproduce real wind loading patterns with greater accuracy than ever achieved before.