Wind loads on clad scaffolding with different geometries and building opening ratios

Cladding may cause severe wind loads on scaffolding, especially when it is nonporous. Wind tunnel experiments were carried out based on a prototype of scaffolding covered with nonporous cladding and attached to a medium-height building. Characteristics of wind pressure on the scaffolding were studied for different building opening ratios, scaffolding geometries and wind directions. Mean and local peak net pressure distributions were investigated. Mean wind force coefficients for the entire scaffolding and area-averaged wind force coefficients were determined for different scaffolding geometries. This paper compares experimental data with relevant current design recommendations. The largest positive and negative local peak net pressures usually occur in the upper region or side edge of scaffolding. For most geometries, the largest positive local peak net pressures tend to be smaller and the largest negative local peak net pressures tend to be larger as building opening ratio increases. For some scaffolding geometries, the current design recommendations underestimated the wind force coefficients for clad scaffolding.