WIND LOADS ON LOUVERED SIGNS

RESULTS OF A SERIES OF WIND TUNNEL TESTS OF BOTH STRAIGHT AND CURVED LOUVER SIGN MODELS ARE PRESENTED. A TOTAL OF 16 DIFFERENT MODELS WERE TESTED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF LOUVER ANGLE, LOUVER WIDTH, SIGN HEIGHT TO WIDTH RATIO, AND SIGN MESSAGE ON THE WIND LOADS. DIMENSIONLESS FORCE AND MOMENT COEFFICIENTS ARE PRESENTED GRAPHICALLY, PROVIDING A CONCISE AND CONVENIENT SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR DETERMINING WIND LOADS ON FULL-SCALE LOUVERED SIGNS. COMPARISONS ARE MADE BETWEEN THE WIND LOADS ON A CONVENTIONAL SIGN AND WIND LOADS ON LOUVERED SIGNS. FOR A GIVEN FRONTAL AREA, TESTS SHOW THAT WIND LOADS ON A LOUVERED SIGN ARE APPROXIMATELY 50 PERCENT LESS THAN THOSE ON A CONVENTIONAL SOLID BACKGROUND SIGN. GROSS ESTIMATES OF LOUVERED SIGN COSTS ARE GIVEN AND COMPARED WITH CONVENTIONAL SIGN COSTS. THE VISIBILITY ASPECT OF A LOUVERED SIGN IS BRIEFLY DISCUSSED. ACTUAL FIELD INSTALLATIONS OF LOUVERED SIGNS ARE SHOWN AND DISCUSSED. /AUTHOR/