Low-rise gable roof wind loads: Characterization and stochastic simulation

Mitigation of the damage caused by windstorms to low-rise buildings is a high priority in the wind engineering community. The development of cost-effective methods to withstand the effects of extreme winds can be advanced through improved modeling of wind loads acting on low-rise roof structures. This study explores the effects of the spatial and probabilistic characteristics of pressure fields on the aggregate uplift acting on roof panels of low-rise gable roof buildings representative of typical homes. Pressure time histories obtained at roof locations for buildings of varying roof slope at several angles of incidence in the boundary layer wind tunnel at Clemson University are used to characterize the correlation statistics between tap locations and model the marginal probability density function at individual tap locations. This information is incorporated into a multi-variate non-Gaussian simulation algorithm to study the effects of various levels of correlation on the aggregate uplift on sheathing panels. Comparisons are made between the simulated aggregate uplift and ASCE 7-98 provisions [Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE 7-98 Standard, American Society of Civil Engineers, New York [1]] as well as laboratory generated failure capacities for sheathing panels.