Use of Orthogonal Decomposition Tools in Analyzing Wind Effect on Structures

The main objective of this paper is presentation of the orthogonal decomposition techniques as a tool for simplified response analysis of wind-structure interaction and its possible physical interpretation. The aim is to summarize the procedures that have large impact in the design stages, and not to discuss the cutting edge of this research topic. In case of random processes, orthogonal decomposition consists of projecting a multivariate stochastic field on a base allowing a parametric reconstruction of the stochastic process. The method is presented according to the state-of-the-art, by using either the co-variance or the power spectral density matrix; single modal (structural or load based) and double modal (structural and load based) transformations are also discussed. The spectrum of wind analyses that benefit from such procedures is quite large: quasi-static structural response to wind, characterization of the resonant amplification, artificial simulation of multivariate wind velocity fields, preliminary design of additional damping systems and experimental dynamic identification of structures.