Virginia Polytechnic and State University

Wind Drift Design of Steel Framed Buildings

In 1988 the ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering published a paper titled �Wind Drift Design of Steel-Framed Buildings: State-of-the-Art Report� (ASCE 1988). It was the culmination of four years of work by a task committee created by the ASCE Committee on Design of Steel Building Structures. The committee developed and conducted a survey to assess the state of the art of designing for drift of steel buildings. One-hundred and thirty-two firms were sent questionnaires and thirty-five responded. After the survey was conducted the committee published the above mentioned paper which summarizes the survey responses as well as opinions and comments provided by the task committee.

The objective of this project is to aid and assist in preparing a new survey to assess the current state of the art in wind drift design of steel buildings. This is necessary given the significant advances we have seen in the Field since the last survey, nearly twenty years ago, when the use of computers was just becoming commonplace:
- Powerful technological and computing resources have revolutionized the way structures are designed. Today including all sources of deformation, accurately modeling the panel zone regions, performing direct second order analysis and accounting for foundation flexibility are all within reach for the typical firm.
- Optimization techniques are commonly integrated in design software, enabling designers to achieve a level of structural performance and economy that was previously difficult if not impossible.
- Wind loading in building codes has changed as has the typical return interval used in design for serviceability issues of drift.
- The complex nature of wind effects on structures is better understood. Wind tunnel testing continues to advance while becoming more affordable.
It is extremely important to gain an overview of the ways in which these advances have affected the state of the art and to bring these changes, positive and negative, to the attention of the community. Since serviceability limit states are not codified the way they are handled may differ considerably from firm to firm; these differences will be brought to light. Through the use of the internet as a distribution tool and the assurance of anonymity, the survey is expected to receive many more respondents than the first survey (thirty-five responses). This will provide for a more complete and accurate assessment of the art.