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Reduce the amount of materials wasted by overbuilding and allow the design professionals to use only the cladding and structural materials needed to ensure a safe and comfortable building. |
wind loads & effects
The animated clip shows vortices that develop around corners of buildings. As the clip shows, wind interacts with buildings and structures in complex and often surprising ways. Although wind loading codes give general guidelines for structural designs, wind tunnel testing offers specific information about a particular design that the standard codes cannot. In fact, the codes used in the United States specify wind tunnel testing for buildings that have unusual
geometries or that are located in high-wind regions.
Because wind tunnel tests address the specific complexities of each project, they are a key tool for optimal structural design efficiency. Wind tunnel testing can identify areas of the building where frame loads are lower (and material costs can be reduced) and areas where wind pressures on the cladding are higher (and the building's safety and reliability can be increased). Wind tunnel tests support efficient, safe, reliable buildings.
For a clear example of the value of wind engineering, see how the New Orleans Arena, wind engineered by CPP, survived Hurricane Katrina.
Additional wind tunnel tests address wind-induced motion of buildings, fire safety analyses, natural ventilation, pedestrian winds, and much more. Click the links to the left to learn more about specific topics in wind engineering.
CPP has performed thousands of structural wind tunnel tests over the decades. The principals and staff of CPP have also published many technical papers about structural wind engineering (see below).
Links
Wind Loads & Effects Technical Papers
