Software Tools for Database-Assisted Design for Wind Effects: Current Capabilities and Future Requirements

Standard provisions for wind loads on buildings have traditionally been based on summary tables and/or plots suitable for slide-rule calculations, leading to a discrepancy between the accuracy of wind loads defined by such tables and plots and the accuracy of current methods for stress computation. Advances in computational power now make it possible to reduce this discrepancy and achieve structural designs for wind that are significantly safer and more economical than current designs. In this work the concept of database-assisted design (DAD) is presented, along with a discussion of the application software WiLDELRS (Wind Load Design Environment for Low Rise Structures), a user-friendly tool for designers and code writers that employs the DAD approach. The DAD approach entails the use of large databases of aerodynamic pressures, the optional use of databases of directional extreme wind speeds, and the use of structural information needed for the description of linear or nonlinear structural behavior. A discussion of the basic ideas of DAD is given, along with issues related to software development and future needs.