LAUSR

Abstract Design wind force coefficients for the main wind force in open- and semi-open-type framed membrane structures were investigated using wind tunnel experiments. The semi-open-type structure has only one gable wall, while the open-type structure has no gable wall. The enclosed-type structure was also tested for comparison. Experiments were conducted with two kinds of turbulent boundary layers corresponding to open-country and urban terrains. First, the distributions of the wind force coefficients, obtained by the difference between the external and internal pressure coefficients, on each type of structure were measured. Based on these results, the effect of the gable-end configuration on the wind force coefficient distribution was determined. Subsequently, various load effects for each type of structure were computed, and the design wind force coefficients for the main wind force resisting systems were proposed using the load response correlation (LRC) method. Two types of column base conditions, hinged-base and clamped-base, were considered. The axial forces induced in the columns for hinged-base frames and the bending moments at the column bases for clamped-base frames were used to investigate the design wind force coefficients. Furthermore, an estimation method of the design wind force coefficients for different turbulent flows is proposed that accounts for the effects of turbulence intensity on the load effects. Finally, a simplified model of the design wind force coefficient is proposed.