Probabilistic 3-D turbulence modeling for gust buffeting of structures

Literature on turbulence modeling is rich in empirical, semi-empirical and theoretical spectral equations whose parameters assume deterministic values. Starting from a critical review of the state of the art, this paper proposes a unified model of atmospheric turbulence especially suited to determine the 3-D gust-excited response of structures. Unlike classical models, all parameters are assigned through first and second order statistical moments derived from a wide set of selected experimental measurements. A general discussion is also provided about model errors and other sources of randomness. Due to these properties the model proposed is suitable for carrying out reliability analyses which take into account the propagation of the uncertainties.