In 2004 a post-frame structure with plastered straw bales as an in-fill wall system was built at the University of Manitoba. Load cells installed at the top and bottom of ten eave wall posts were intended to measure the tributary load transferred from the roof structure into the supporting posts. In 2011 wind speed and direction were measured adjacent to the structure and correlated to simultaneous load data. A linear regression model relating load to wind speed within four directional quadrants revealed that load behaviour was inconsistent with design-level loading prescribed by the National Building Code of Canada (2005). A second regression model with both speed and direction as independent variables did not determine any statistically significant relationships. This research concluded that the initial assumptions made in 2004 required additional scrutiny, including the conditions under which the load cells were calibrated, and the structural contribution of the walls’ plastered skins.

In 2004 a post-frame structure with plastered straw bales as an in-fill wall system was built at the University of Manitoba. Load cells installed at the top and bottom of ten eave wall posts were intended to measure the tributary load transferred from the roof structure into the supporting posts. In 2011 wind speed and direction were measured adjacent to the structure and correlated to simultaneous load data. A linear regression model relating load to wind speed within four directional quadrants revealed that load behaviour was inconsistent with design-level loading prescribed by the National Building Code of Canada (2005). A second regression model with both speed and direction as independent variables did not determine any statistically significant relationships. This research concluded that the initial assumptions made in 2004 required additional scrutiny, including the conditions under which the load cells were calibrated, and the structural contribution of the walls’ plastered skins.

Light-frame wood construction is frequently used in the U.S. High wind events, such as hurricanes, may cause severe damage to these structures by breaking the roof envelope. This study focuses on computing reliability indices of roof sheathing panels exposed to high wind events while considering a time and spatially varying wind load. A procedure is developed that links probabilistic and dynamic finite element analysis codes. The results show that a few critical panels are most susceptible to damage, while most panels have significantly higher reliability indices than previous studies based on simplified analyses have shown. By setting a target reliability index, panel nail spacing can be adjusted to provide a more uniform level of safety over the entire roof.

The study of the response of tall buildings to wind has become more critical with the increase of super tall buildings in major cities around the world. Outrigger-braced tall building is considered as one of the most popular and efficient tall building design because they are easier to build, save on costs and provide massive lateral stiffness. Most importantly, outrigger-braced structures can strengthen a building without disturbing its aesthetic appearance and this is a significant advantage over other lateral load resisting systems. Therefore this thesis focuses on the optimum design of multi-outriggers in tall buildings, based on the standards set out in the Australian wind code AS/NZS 1170.2. / As taller buildings are built, more outriggers are required. Most of the research to date has included a limited number of outriggers in a building. Some tall buildings require more outriggers especially for those more than 500m building height. Therefore there is a need to develop a design that includes many outriggers (e.g. more than 5). In addition, wind-induced acceleration is not covered in most of the research on outrigger-braced buildings. The adoption of outrigger-braced systems in tall buildings is very common and therefore a discussion of wind-induced acceleration will be included in this thesis. / Most of the current standards allow for the adoption of a triangular load distribution in estimating the wind response of a structure. However, there are only few publications on the utilization of a triangular load distribution to determine the optimum location of a limited number of outriggers. This issue will be addressed in this thesis and will be compared with a uniformly distributed wind load. Further to this, an investigation will be carried out on the factors affecting the efficiency of an outrigger-braced system in terms of the core base bending moment and the total drift reduction. / This thesis principally provides a preliminary guide to assess the performance of outrigger-braced system by estimating the restraining moments at the outrigger locations, core base bending moment, the total building deflection, along-wind and crosswind acceleration of a tall building. While many computer programs can provide accurate results for the above, they are time-consuming to run. For designers working on the preliminary design in the conceptual phase, a quick estimation drawn from a simpler analysis is preferable. Therefore, as an alternative to computer-generated estimations, a methodology for an approximate hand calculation of the wind-induced acceleration in an outrigger-braced structure will be developed.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and trackers represent one of the most common renewable energy technology which converts sunlight radiation into electrical energy. The solar trackers specifically are more complex structures because they involve mechanical devices, a supporting slender structure, and photovoltaic modules mounted and positioned on top of the supporting structure. Solar trackers are mounted on mobile supports or racks, in order to enable the rotation and tilt of the PV which thus maintains their optimum exposure to the incident sunlight. Solar trackers support structures should be designed for wind resistance during the operation and at stow position for its life span and this became a concern considering the new tendency of installing the solar trackers on the rooftop of low-rise or medium-rise buildings. The current research focused on performing site measurements of the wind-induced displacement for a dual-axis solar tracking system installed on the roof of the Mann Parking building of the University of Ottawa, for different azimuth, elevations. The supporting structure of the solar tracker was instrumented with 16 strain gauges and the strains developed in the metal truss members were measured during the months February 2015 and March 2015. The tracker was rotated and tilted at different angles through the duration of the experiment and the strains observed on each structural element were recorded. In order to estimate deflections of the supporting structure for wind speeds higher than the ones measured, a finite element (FE) model of the solar tracker was created and static analysis was performed for different inclinations using the SAP 2000 structural software. The experimental results were in agreement with the FE simulation results as the stresses obtained ranged between 1.02 × 107 Pa and 7.88 × 107 Pa. Lower attack angles between 45° and 60° were found to have significant effect on the elements of the solar tracker irrespective of the wind load magnitude. Operational attack angles between 65° and 75° were found to be safer positions as obtained displacements and stress analysis result showed that the supporting structure of the solar tracker was stable for wind speeds between 0 m/s and 33m/s in Ottawa region

O projeto do teto cônico de um tanque atmosférico depende da análise de duas condições de carregamento independentes. Para a condição 1 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de equipamentos, passarela e outros. Para a condição 2 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de vento. A carga de vento muda à medida que se muda o ângulo de inclinação do teto e, essa relação de carga/inclinação, é diferente para cada relação h/D (altura/diâmetro) do tanque. Portanto, a espessura do teto para uma dada inclinação deste é desconhecida e, consequentemente, o seu peso também. Surge então a necessidade de utilizar uma ferramenta para encontrar o melhor ângulo que minimize o peso do teto. O tanque em estudo é um tanque com altura do costado h de 12 m e diâmetro D de 12 m, sendo, portanto, um tanque com relação h/D = 1. Todas as etapas foram integralmente desenvolvidas dentro da plataforma do programa Ansys Workbench. Para a simulação da condição 2, como primeiro passo são obtidas as pressões exercidas pelo vento sobre o teto do tanque através do programa Ansys CFX; no passo seguinte, através da interação fluido-estrutura, essas pressões são utilizadas como condição de contorno pelo programa Ansys Mechanical. Para a simulação da condição 1 é utilizada uma pressão externa para baixo de 1 kPa mais a carga do peso próprio. Os resultados da simulação estrutural são os deslocamentos nos nós do teto e a tensão de von Mises para as duas condições de carga. O processo de otimização é realizado pela ferramenta Goal Driven Optimization do programa Ansys Workbench com o objetivo de minimizar o peso do teto. As variáveis de projeto são a espessura e o ângulo de inclinação do teto. Como restrições na estrutura do teto, os deslocamentos são limitados a 1 mm e as tensões são limitadas a 145 MPa para as duas condições de carregamento. Os resultados encontrados mostram que, para esse tanque, o ângulo de inclinação ótimo é 29,48º. / The design of the conical roof of an atmospheric tank depends on two independent loading conditions. For the first condition we have a roof dead load plus the load of equipments, walkway and others. For the second condition we have a roof dead load plus the wind load. The wind load on roof changes as the angle of slope of the roof changes and this relationship is different for each h/D (height/diameter) ratio of the tank. If the load is unknown, then the thickness of the roof is unknown too and hence its weight is unknown. Then comes the need to use a tool to find the best angle of slope that minimizes the weight of the roof. The study is carried out in a tank with cilindrical body height h of 12 m and diameter D of 12 m, therefore a tank with ratio h/D = 1. All steps were fully developed within the Ansys Workbench platform. As a first step pressures of the wind over the roof of the tank are obtained through the Ansys CFX. Through the fluid-structure interaction these pressures are used as boundary conditions by Ansys Mechanical for the simulation of the second condition. To simulate the first condition it is used a external downward pressure of 1 kPa plus the roof dead load. The structural simulation results are displacements in the roof nodes and von Mises stresses for the two conditions analyzed. The optimization process is performed by the tool Goal Driven Optimization of Ansys Workbench Program and the goal is to minimize the weight of the roof. The design variables are the thickness and the angle of slope of the roof. As constraint displacements obtained in the two load conditions are limited to 1 mm and stresses are limited to 145 MPa. For the studied tank, the optimum angle of inclination of the roof is 29,48º.

O projeto do teto cônico de um tanque atmosférico depende da análise de duas condições de carregamento independentes. Para a condição 1 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de equipamentos, passarela e outros. Para a condição 2 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de vento. A carga de vento muda à medida que se muda o ângulo de inclinação do teto e, essa relação de carga/inclinação, é diferente para cada relação h/D (altura/diâmetro) do tanque. Portanto, a espessura do teto para uma dada inclinação deste é desconhecida e, consequentemente, o seu peso também. Surge então a necessidade de utilizar uma ferramenta para encontrar o melhor ângulo que minimize o peso do teto. O tanque em estudo é um tanque com altura do costado h de 12 m e diâmetro D de 12 m, sendo, portanto, um tanque com relação h/D = 1. Todas as etapas foram integralmente desenvolvidas dentro da plataforma do programa Ansys Workbench. Para a simulação da condição 2, como primeiro passo são obtidas as pressões exercidas pelo vento sobre o teto do tanque através do programa Ansys CFX; no passo seguinte, através da interação fluido-estrutura, essas pressões são utilizadas como condição de contorno pelo programa Ansys Mechanical. Para a simulação da condição 1 é utilizada uma pressão externa para baixo de 1 kPa mais a carga do peso próprio. Os resultados da simulação estrutural são os deslocamentos nos nós do teto e a tensão de von Mises para as duas condições de carga. O processo de otimização é realizado pela ferramenta Goal Driven Optimization do programa Ansys Workbench com o objetivo de minimizar o peso do teto. As variáveis de projeto são a espessura e o ângulo de inclinação do teto. Como restrições na estrutura do teto, os deslocamentos são limitados a 1 mm e as tensões são limitadas a 145 MPa para as duas condições de carregamento. Os resultados encontrados mostram que, para esse tanque, o ângulo de inclinação ótimo é 29,48º. / The design of the conical roof of an atmospheric tank depends on two independent loading conditions. For the first condition we have a roof dead load plus the load of equipments, walkway and others. For the second condition we have a roof dead load plus the wind load. The wind load on roof changes as the angle of slope of the roof changes and this relationship is different for each h/D (height/diameter) ratio of the tank. If the load is unknown, then the thickness of the roof is unknown too and hence its weight is unknown. Then comes the need to use a tool to find the best angle of slope that minimizes the weight of the roof. The study is carried out in a tank with cilindrical body height h of 12 m and diameter D of 12 m, therefore a tank with ratio h/D = 1. All steps were fully developed within the Ansys Workbench platform. As a first step pressures of the wind over the roof of the tank are obtained through the Ansys CFX. Through the fluid-structure interaction these pressures are used as boundary conditions by Ansys Mechanical for the simulation of the second condition. To simulate the first condition it is used a external downward pressure of 1 kPa plus the roof dead load. The structural simulation results are displacements in the roof nodes and von Mises stresses for the two conditions analyzed. The optimization process is performed by the tool Goal Driven Optimization of Ansys Workbench Program and the goal is to minimize the weight of the roof. The design variables are the thickness and the angle of slope of the roof. As constraint displacements obtained in the two load conditions are limited to 1 mm and stresses are limited to 145 MPa. For the studied tank, the optimum angle of inclination of the roof is 29,48º.

O projeto do teto cônico de um tanque atmosférico depende da análise de duas condições de carregamento independentes. Para a condição 1 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de equipamentos, passarela e outros. Para a condição 2 tem-se a carga de peso próprio mais a carga de vento. A carga de vento muda à medida que se muda o ângulo de inclinação do teto e, essa relação de carga/inclinação, é diferente para cada relação h/D (altura/diâmetro) do tanque. Portanto, a espessura do teto para uma dada inclinação deste é desconhecida e, consequentemente, o seu peso também. Surge então a necessidade de utilizar uma ferramenta para encontrar o melhor ângulo que minimize o peso do teto. O tanque em estudo é um tanque com altura do costado h de 12 m e diâmetro D de 12 m, sendo, portanto, um tanque com relação h/D = 1. Todas as etapas foram integralmente desenvolvidas dentro da plataforma do programa Ansys Workbench. Para a simulação da condição 2, como primeiro passo são obtidas as pressões exercidas pelo vento sobre o teto do tanque através do programa Ansys CFX; no passo seguinte, através da interação fluido-estrutura, essas pressões são utilizadas como condição de contorno pelo programa Ansys Mechanical. Para a simulação da condição 1 é utilizada uma pressão externa para baixo de 1 kPa mais a carga do peso próprio. Os resultados da simulação estrutural são os deslocamentos nos nós do teto e a tensão de von Mises para as duas condições de carga. O processo de otimização é realizado pela ferramenta Goal Driven Optimization do programa Ansys Workbench com o objetivo de minimizar o peso do teto. As variáveis de projeto são a espessura e o ângulo de inclinação do teto. Como restrições na estrutura do teto, os deslocamentos são limitados a 1 mm e as tensões são limitadas a 145 MPa para as duas condições de carregamento. Os resultados encontrados mostram que, para esse tanque, o ângulo de inclinação ótimo é 29,48º. / The design of the conical roof of an atmospheric tank depends on two independent loading conditions. For the first condition we have a roof dead load plus the load of equipments, walkway and others. For the second condition we have a roof dead load plus the wind load. The wind load on roof changes as the angle of slope of the roof changes and this relationship is different for each h/D (height/diameter) ratio of the tank. If the load is unknown, then the thickness of the roof is unknown too and hence its weight is unknown. Then comes the need to use a tool to find the best angle of slope that minimizes the weight of the roof. The study is carried out in a tank with cilindrical body height h of 12 m and diameter D of 12 m, therefore a tank with ratio h/D = 1. All steps were fully developed within the Ansys Workbench platform. As a first step pressures of the wind over the roof of the tank are obtained through the Ansys CFX. Through the fluid-structure interaction these pressures are used as boundary conditions by Ansys Mechanical for the simulation of the second condition. To simulate the first condition it is used a external downward pressure of 1 kPa plus the roof dead load. The structural simulation results are displacements in the roof nodes and von Mises stresses for the two conditions analyzed. The optimization process is performed by the tool Goal Driven Optimization of Ansys Workbench Program and the goal is to minimize the weight of the roof. The design variables are the thickness and the angle of slope of the roof. As constraint displacements obtained in the two load conditions are limited to 1 mm and stresses are limited to 145 MPa. For the studied tank, the optimum angle of inclination of the roof is 29,48º.

The application of dynamic wind load on photovoltaic (PV) solar systems mounted on flat roofs influenced their structural behavior significantly. It is implied that when the PV solar system is exposed to extreme weather characteristics such as low temperatures, these might influence the load distribution along each layer of the solar panel, which is composed by multiple layers of different materials. Therefore, the high record of weather characteristics as one scenario in addition to the field experiment were designed to describe parametric structural behavior of PV solar system help to increase the precision of study. According to the mentioned procedures different parameters of weather characteristics measured with instrumentation at the site of PV panel installation at the University of Ottawa where the low temperature equal to -24.3° C and wind speed of 11.8 recorded. The mechanical and thermal properties of full-scale specimen and load application that computed based on weather record for every two minutes of January and February from northern side of specimen, introduced to FEM software SAP 2000. Moreover, the support structure and connection used to assemble real specimen considered in modeling with respect to average temperature equal to -7° C that caused to simulate 36 different cases to compare with simultaneous experiment designed to measured strain within same period. The second investigation involved instrumenting a full-scale PV solar panel specimen with 13 half-bridge strain gauges on both surfaces of the PV solar panel, which were used to measure strain values in longitudinal and transversal directions of solar panel and also on the top and bottom edges of the same panel. According to an equivalent uniform Young’s modulus numerically determined for the five layers of the PV solar panel, and with respect to the Hook’s law, the stresses were found to be equal to 50 Mpa for strain gauges at the mid area of PV solar panel,. This value was used to calibrate boundary conditions of the FE model namely the Fix-Equal and the Pin-Equal conditions along the edges of the solar panel and along the mounting frame.

The Tubed Mega Frame is a new structure concept for high-rise buildings which is developed by Tyréns. In order to study the structural performance as well as the efficiency of this new concept, a global analysis of the Tubed Mega Frame structure is performed using finite element analysis software ETABS. Besides, the lateral loads that should be applied on the structure according to different codes are also studied. From the design code study for wind loads and seismic design response spectrums, it can be seen that the calculation philosophies are different from code to code. The wind loads are approximately the same while the design response spectrums vary a lot from different codes. In the ETABS program, a 3D finite element model is built and analyzed for linear static, geometric non-linearity (P-Delta) and linear dynamic cases. The results from the analysis in the given scope show that the Tubed Mega Frame structural system is potentially feasible and has relatively high lateral stiffness and global stability. For the service limit state, the maximum story drift ratio is within the limitation of 1/400 and the maximum story acceleration is 0.011m/sec 2 which fulfill the comfort criteria.