Wind load combinations and extreme pressure distributions on low-rise buildings

The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the necessity of considering wind loadrncombinations even for low-rise buildings. It first discusses the overall quasi-static wind load effects andrntheir combinations to be considered in structural design of low-rise buildings. It was found that the maximumrntorsional moment closely correlates with the maximum along-wind base shear. It was also found that therninstantaneous pressure distribution causing the maximum along-wind base shear was quite similar to thatrncausing the maximum torsional moment, and that this asymmetric pressure pattern simultaneously accompaniesrnconsiderable across-wind and torsional components. Secondly, the actual wind pressure distributions causingrnmaximum quasi-static internal forces in the structural frames are conditionally sampled and their typical pressurernpatterns are presented.