Windstorm Resilience of a 10-Story Steel Frame Office Building

Abstract

The windstorm resilience of a 1-story steel frame building is examined by adapting procedures and software initially developed for performance-based seismic engineering. Building vulnerability to wind was predicted using a nonlinear finite element model of the structure subjected to wind loads based on loads measured in wind tunnel tests of a small-scale model of the building. The model of the building structure was idealized using a concentrated plasticity approach, including both the main wind force resisting and gravity systems. Wind tunnel load records were modified to emulate the nonstationary effects of windstorms. Nonlinear response history analyses were used to calculate story drifts and roof and floor accelerations. The calculated values were then correlated to probable building damage using empirical fragility data of structural and nonstructural building components. Monte Carlo simulations of possible building response scenarios were run and the simulation results indicated that during service-level windstorms buildings were generally habitable. During extreme-level sustained windstorms, damage to cladding and a need for the repair of structural components, especially nonductile beam connections, was predicted.