CALCULATION OF WIND-INDUCED ACCELERATIONS ON TALL BUILDINGS IN CUBA.

Abstract

With the increase of tall and slender building projects in Cuba, characteristics that make them very susceptible to wind loads, it is a necessity to establish design criteria that ensure an acceptable performance of these buildings, where one of the most important aspects to verify is the effect of wind-induced oscillations and accelerations on humans. The current Cuban wind standard does not contain any procedure for the determination of wind-induced accelerations or the limits allowed in tall buildings to check the serviceability limit state. Furthermore, the method proposed in NC-285:2003 for the consideration of dynamic load effects is not compatible with the internationally recognized formulations for the calculation of accelerations, which are based on the most internationally applied method "Gust Effect Factor". In recent years, several studies have been developed for the updating of the Cuban wind standard; the determination of accelerations and their permissible values are the object of study and inclusion in this standard. Therefore, in this work the maximum longitudinal, across-wind and torsional accelerations in three tall buildings are determined by means of a methodology proposed from the revision and interpretation of the international regulations of wind action on structures. The highest values of accelerations obtained correspond to the across-wind accelerations and are therefore those that govern the service state for the comfort studies in the buildings analyzed.