ABSTRACT
There are several different methods of using the wind tunnel to predict the overall structural loads and responses of tall buildings. The three most common techniques are the high-frequency-balance method, the high-frequency-pressure-integration (HFPI) method, and the aeroelastic model method. An advantage of the high-frequency balance method is that the models are relatively quick and economical to build, and the testing is also relatively quick. The HFPI technique became feasible in the 1990s with the development of high-speed electronic pressure scanning systems capable of measuring pressures in the wind tunnel at several hundred locations simultaneously at sample rates of several hundred hertz. While the wind tunnel test will measure external pressures, the design cladding pressures should be net pressures that take account of internal pressures in the building. A wind tunnel model is often used to study not only wind loading but also other wind-related design issues.
