Generalized gust-front factor: A computational framework for wind load effects

This paper presents a unified framework of a generalized gust-front factor for modeling winds in gust-fronts and their attendant load effects on structures. This is analogous to the gust loading factor, a widely recognized format used world-wide in codes and standards, for the treatment of gusts in conventional boundary layer winds. The generalized gust-front factor encapsulates dynamic features inherent in wind load effects in gust-fronts originating from winds in downbursts/thunderstorms. In view of the computational complexity of the formulation and the need to promote the usage of such a framework, a web-based portal is provided. The portal at http://gff.ce.nd.edu can be conveniently utilized to evaluate the generalized gust-front factor in conjunction with international standards. The proposed generalized gust-front factor reduces to conventional gust loading factor in the case of boundary layer winds, thus, it represents a most generalized dynamic wind load effects modeling framework on structures that is compatible with the format used in ASCE 7 or any other international standard.