Peak factor estimation method of non-Gaussian wind pressures on long-span tri-centered cylindrical roof structures

Claddings are susceptible to damage due to underestimation of extreme wind-induced surface pressures. Commonly accepted methods for estimating the peak factor (an input used to determine cladding design loads) involve complex calculation-intensive procedures. This research develops a four-parameter unified auto-spectral model of wind pressure to simplify peak factor estimation of wind-induced surface pressure via analysis of wind tunnel wind load data on tri-centered cylindrical roofs. Values of the model parameters were identified via statistical analysis of wind tunnel wind pressure measurement on two long-span tri-centered cylindrical roof structures with different curvatures. The study identified roof regions with non-Gaussian features by inspecting probabilistic density functions of the standardized wind-induced roof pressures and the third- and fourth-order statistical moments of wind pressure time histories. The paper ultimately proposed and evaluated a simplified method for estimating the peak factors in the non-Gaussian regions, the Three-parameter Hermite Model, derived through the moment-based Hermite Model, the Revised Hermite Model, and the parameter simplification accomplished in this study. The results show that the auto-spectral model of wind-induced roof pressures can accurately estimate the zero- and second-order spectral moments, which reflects the wind pressure fluctuating characteristics and geometric features of spectral curves. Compared with the peak factors of the moment-based Hermite Model and the Revised Hermite Model, the peak factor errors estimated by the Three-parameter Hermite Model are all less than 10%. These results suggest that the Three-parameter Hermite Model simplifies the calculation with acceptable accuracy.