A refined method for calculating wind load combinations on open-framed structures

Abstract Literature on open-framed structures has shown that the maximum wind load normal to a set of frames occurs not when the wind is normal to the frames, but rather at some angle to the normal, typically between 20° and 40°. This means that when one set of frames experiences its maximum load, the orthogonal set of frames simultaneously experiences a significant wind load. Currently used procedures for determining wind loads on open-frame structures either ignore this significant load combination or use simplified load combinations. This paper presents an empirical method to determine the maximum normal wind load on a set of frames of an open-frame structure, plus the wind angle at which it occurs and the corresponding load on the orthogonal frame set. It is applicable to open-frame structures rectangular in plan with 3–10 frames in each direction and solidity ratios between 0.1 and 0.5.