WIND versus EARTHQUAKE

DYNAMIC ACTIONS ON BUILDINGS

Dynamic actions are caused on buildings by both wind and earthquakes. But,
design for wind forces and for earthquake effects are distinctly different.

Dr. Ayman Mohammed Abd Elhamed WIND versus EARTHQUAKE

 WIND ACTION
WIND ACTION EARTHQUAKE ACTION
EARTHQUAKE ACTION
Wind load is force-type Earthquake load is displacement-
loading type loading
▪ The building is subjected to a pressure on its ▪ The building is subjected to random motion
exposed surface area. of the ground at its base, which induces
inertia forces in the building that in turn
▪ wind and other hazards require buildings to
cause stresses.
resist certain level of force applied on it.
▪ Earthquake shaking requires buildings to be
▪ It is possible to estimate with precision the
capable of resisting certain relative
maximum force that can be imposed on a
displacement within it due to the imposed
building.
displacement at its base.
▪ The demand on the building imposed by
▪ The maximum displacement imposed under
wind pressure is force.
the building is not as precisely known.
▪ The demand on the building is displacement.

Dr. Ayman Mohammed Abd Elhamed WIND versus EARTHQUAKE

 Behaviour of structures
WIND ACTION
Wind design requires only elastic behaviour in
the entire range of displacement.

EARTHQUAKE ACTION
In earthquake design there are two options,
➢ design the building to remain elastic (special
buildings, like critical buildings of nuclear power
plants).
➢ design the building to undergo inelastic
behaviour (normal buildings).

Dr. Ayman Mohammed Abd Elhamed WIND versus EARTHQUAKE

 Displacement Loading versus Force Loading
WIND ACTION EARTHQUAKE ACTION

Dr. Ayman Mohammed Abd Elhamed WIND versus EARTHQUAKE

 Nature of temporal variations of design actions
WIND ACTION
▪ Wind force on the building has a non-zero
mean component superposed with a
relatively small oscillating component.
▪ Under wind forces, the building may
experience small fluctuations in the stress
field, but reversal of stresses occurs only
when the direction of wind reverses, which
happens only over a large duration of time.
Dr. Ayman Mohammed Abd Elhamed
EARTHQUAKE ACTION
▪ The motion of the ground during the
earthquake is cyclic about the neutral
position of the structure.
▪ The stresses in the building due to seismic
actions undergo many complete reversals
and that too over the small duration of
earthquake.
WIND versus EARTHQUAKE