Collapse and Reinforcement of Pipe-Framed Greenhouse under Static Wind Loading

The present paper investigates the collapse process of a pipe-framed greenhouse under static wind loading based on a non-linear finite element analysis.The purpose is to establish a more reasonable wind resistant design method for such structures.The structures are so flexible that the fluid-structure interaction(FSI)is considered in the analysis.In practice,iterative analyses of the structure’s response and the wind pressure distribution on the deformed structure are made.The wind direction is normal to the ridge.Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)analysis with a RANS turbulence model is used for evaluating the time-averaged wind pressure coefficient distribution on the structure.Both the geometric and the material non-linearity are considered in the structural analysis.The collapse behavior obtained is consistent with the practical one often observed in damage investigations.Based on the results,discussion is made of the validity of the current design guideline commonly used in Japan.The same analysis is carried out for various reinforced models.The effect of each reinforcement method on the improvement of wind resistance of the structure is investigated on the basis of the allowable stress and deformation limits specified in the current design guideline.