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ASCE Standard 49 Provides the Most Up-To-Date Requirements for Conducting and Interpreting Wind Tunnel Testing

ASCE Standard 49 Provides the Most Up-To-Date Requirements for Conducting and Interpreting Wind Tunnel Testing

 Reston, Va. – Wind tunnel tests are used to predict wind loads and responses of a structure, structural components, and cladding to a variety of wind conditions. ASCE’s newly updated standard, Wind Tunnel Testing for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE/SEI 49-21, provides the minimum requirements for conducting and interpreting wind tunnel tests to determine wind loads on buildings and other structures. The standard addresses simulation of wind in boundary-layer wind tunnels, local and area-averaged wind loads, overall wind effects, aeroelastically active structures, extreme wind climate, and snow load model studies.

New to this version are requirements for wind loads on products, which include building-mounted (sunshades, solar racking, HVAC units, screen walls) or free-standing (ground-mounted solar trackers, gazebos, fences, communication towers). Wind loads are a critical design consideration for many mass-produced products that are constructed or installed at different sites and in many different situations. In addition, commentary guidance is provided for determining wind loads on buildings and other structures in tornadoes, which is an area of current active research.

Key topics covered in this standard include defining productivity and related terms; preparing, collecting, validating, and analyzing productivity data; detecting the presence and extent of disruptive events; preferred methodologies for quantifying productivity loss; and avoiding conditions that create productivity loss.

Structural engineers, architects, and building code officials will find this standard when designing, conducting, and interpreting wind tunnel tests for buildings.

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