Field measurement of wind pressure on a large-scale spatial structure and comparison with wind tunnel test results

Due to the features of light weight, high flexibility, and slight damping, large-scale spatial structures are very sensitive to wind load. Thus, special attention must be paid to wind effect on large-scale spatial structures. A wind pressure field measurement was carried out to characterize the actual wind pressure of a large-span spatial structure. Meanwhile, it is also intended to provide reliable full-scale measurements for verification of wind tunnel test results widely used in the design and construction of structure. In this study, both wind tunnel test and field measurement are utilized to investigate the properties of the wind pressure acting on a typical large-scale spatial structure. Specifically, wind pressure coefficients, spatial distribution, probability density distribution (PDF), non-Gaussian characteristics, and power spectral density (PSD) are fully compared and discussed based on the results of the wind tunnel test and long-term field measurement. The comparison results show that generally the results of the wind tunnel test have good agreement with those of the field measurement. In the meanwhile, the discrepancies between them are also observed. This study aims to fully investigate the wind effects on large-scale spatial structure and enhance the understanding of wind loads.