ABSTRACT
In this paper a framework is presented that rigorously combines the directional characteristics of both the extreme wind climate and buildings aerodynamics in a component-wise reliability model that ensures consistent estimates of responses with specified mean recurrence intervals. In particular the proposed reliability model introduces limit state functions with specified vulnerability levels. This allows for the identification of limit states, in terms of the maximum mean wind speeds for each wind direction, that allow for the rigorous estimation of the response levels with specified mean recurrence intervals through the resolution of time-invariant reliability integrals. The proposed model is compared to traditional methods commonly adopted in the wind analysis of tall buildings. In particular both non directional and directional methods are compared to the proposed approach for a 74 floor planar frame analyzed in a fully three dimensional extreme wind environment. The results seem to highlight the inadequacy of traditional approaches for accurately estimating responses with specified mean recurrence intervals.
Keywords: Reliability, Vulnerability, Wind, Tall buildings, Dynamics, Response analysis.
