Wind loading and its effects on single-layer reticulated cylindrical shells

In this paper, the wind load distribution as well as its effects on single-layer reticulated cylindrical shells, which are widely used in practice, is investigated. At first, wind pressure distributions on three rigid cylindrical shell models considering different shape ratios are measured simultaneously in a wind tunnel. Some special characteristics of the measured wind pressure, especially its fluctuating component, are discussed. Then, considering the special structural mechanical behaviors, the effects of wind load, especially the fluctuating component, on the limit load-carrying capacity and the stability of the shells are investigated by both equivalent static analysis and dynamic analysis. Suitable methods to get a reasonable estimation of wind load effects in estimating the equivalent static wind load distribution for such shells are investigated. Finally, with comparison analyses using different methods mentioned in this paper, the efficiency of the method in estimating the effective wind load distribution presented by the authors previously for single-layer reticulated spherical shells is demonstrated, and some advices for estimating the wind load distribution on single-layer reticulated cylindrical shells is given for wind-resistant design in practice.