Response to students' questions on NSCP 2010 wind loading provisions

These are actually in the comments, but I thought I should promote them to a full post. The first asks about leeward wall pressures:

Are the values for the Leeward wall pz really constant with elevation?

2013-2014 1st Sem CE 197 Final Grades

Another semester has gone. I feel that this class has learned things that they wouldn't have otherwise been taught, and yet there is a lot more to know. Even I am still learning! What I did was I only penalized those who did not follow instructions, such as rounding off, etc., or those who did not even try at all. That said, complaints will not be entertained. These grades are final.

Take Home Quiz ;-)

Note: This was updated on 9/17/13 at 8:00 PM.

This is a take home quiz that I gave my students 10 13 days to complete on their own. To encourage independent work, I based the parameters they were going to use on their "student numbers." If you are a practicing structural engineer, go ahead and choose from the values listed below and try to answer the questions yourself.

An example problem on wind load calculation according to NSCP 2010 ;)

A 20-meter-high square-plan five-storey building with flat roof and 4m-high floors, located in Makati CBD, has sides of 10 meters length each, and a large open front door on the first floor that is 2m x 2m in dimension. Assuming that G = 0.85 and that torsion is negligible,

1. Show how this maybe is an open, partially enclosed, or enclosed building.
2. Determine the internal pressure coefficients.
3. Determine the external pressure coefficients for the design of main girders and shear walls.
4. Determine the base reactions due to along-wind loads acting on the front wall of the building.

"A journey around the edge of wind engineering"

This is a report on ‘A journey around the edge of wind engineering,’ an Intensive Course lecture by Prof. Chris Baker, that I submitted as part of the requirements in my PhD study.

CE 256 Final Grades

We've checked your final exams and here now are your final grades.

CE 256 Pre-Finals Grade (UPDATED, OFFICIAL)

To CE 256 students, these are your final grades unless you are not exempted from taking the final exam (i.e. your Grade is marked "FINALS"). These are the OFFICIAL results.

CE 256 Pre-Finals Grade

To CE 256 students, for your advanced info these are your final grades unless you are not exempted from taking the final exam (i.e. your Grade is marked "FINALS"). Official results will be posted at the UP ICE bulletin board.

CE 256 - Part 2 Wind Effects, Session 7

Today is our last session about wind effects.  I gave the 2nd long exam which involved determination of design wind forces on a borderline-high-rise building on a topographic feature and with a monoslope roof.  After the exam, I talked very briefly about overall design for wind effects - load combinations, wind directions, use of wind tunnel testing, more on natural frequency and damping estimates, occupant comfort, reducing wind-induced vibrations via use of dampers, and so on.  This CE 256 class will start on earthquake effects next Saturday.

CE 256 - Part 2 Wind Effects, Session 6

Today we wrapped up the discussion on Wind Effects Part 4 - Dynamic Wind Effects.  Students submitted their homework from the last session, and were given 2 additional homework problems for submission next week:

CE 256 - Part 2 Wind Effects, Session 5 (UPDATED!)

We continued our discussion on aerodynamics and pressure coefficients.  And then we started our discussion on dynamic wind effects.  Additional references for this discussion, aside from Simiu and Scanlan and NSCP 2001, include the ASCE7 standards (looking at the 1993, 1995, and 1998/2002/2005 versions) and a paper I co-authored with Prof. B.M. Pacheco, PhD, PE, and which he presented at the 2007 PICE National Convention.

Two example problems were given to students as a homework to be submitted next meeting:

CE 256 - Part 2 Wind Effects, Session 4

Today, we had our first long quiz which covered the CE 256 Part 1 topic, structural dynamics, (30%, essay questions) and "defining the wind" (70%+5% bonus) which covered wind speed conversions, and topographic effects.  Students were given 1 hour and 40 minutes to answer the quiz.  We started to discuss about aerodynamics and pressure coefficients for about an hour after the quiz.

CE 256 - Part 2 Wind Effects, Session 3

Today, the discussion on "defining the wind" was continued and some example problems were presented.

CE 256 Part 2 (Wind Effects) - Session 2

Session 2 of this coursework covered still a little bit about Typhoon Engineering and Meteorology, Wind Speed Maps in the Philippines, and started on "Defining the Wind."

CE 256 Part 2 (Wind Effects) - Session 1

Today I gave Session 1 of my part, talking about typhoon damages, typhoon engineering, why it is important, and a little bit about meteorology.  Actually, I was not able to cover everything so next session I will still be talking a little bit more about meteorology and typhoon engineering before I move on to my official Session 2, which is about "Defining the Wind" and the basic wind loading equation which stems from fluid mechanics.

CE 256 - Structural Design for Dynamic Effects

This semester I am lecturing at the Institute of Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.  The course number is CE 256, and the course title is "Structural Design for Dynamic Effects."  The course is divided into three parts, namely: Structural Dynamics Review (2 sessions), Wind Effects (7 sessions), and Earthquake Effects (5 sessions).  The very last session is going to talk about structural design considering both wind and earthquake effects (i.e. the case in the Philippines).  I am lecturing the second part on Wind Effects.

The main outline of the Wind Effects part is as follows: