Date: May 12, 2003
Place: National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, Tsukuba, Japan
Attendees: U.S. Side-- Nicholas Jones (Chairman) University of Illinois
Noel Raufaste NIST
Japan Side-- Hisashi Okada (Chairman) BRI
Jun Murakoshi PWRI
Yukio Tamura MRI
Yasuo Okuda BRI
Koichiro Fumoto PWRI
Hitomitsu Kikitsu BRI
1. Objective and Scope of Work
To exchange technical information and to jointly plan, promote, and foster research and dissemination, to improve understanding of wind and its effects on structures, establish more rational wind resistant design procedures for structures, and to contribute synergistically to wind hazard mitigation. Specific objectives for the Task Committee include:
(1) Facilitate collaborative research and cooperation between U.S. and Japanese researchers in the wind engineering.
(2) Identify success in wind engineering and wind hazard mitigation.
(3) Identify research needs in wind hazard mitigation, including development of new technology, basic and applied research in wind and structural engineering, and in social and economic impacts of wind hazards.
The scope of the US-Japan collaboration includes:
(1) Characterization of strong wind, especially boundary layer extreme winds.
(2) The study of wind effects including wind loading on and wind-induced response of structures.
(3) Performance of experimental and analytical research to predict wind effects.
(4) Performance of damage surveys, and wind hazard and risk assessments.
(5) Development of new technologies for wind hazard mitigation.
2. Accomplishments
The 3rd US-Japan Workshop was held in Seattle, 2-5 October 2002. The workshop emphasized development of data and information on wind characteristics, hazards, and effects on buildings and bridges and evolving technologies to serve as a technical basis to revise US and Japan wind standards/codes. 25 technical papers were presented in the workshop.
3. Future Plans
(1) As a follow-up to the workshop on "Reducing Losses from Wind: Collaborative Opportunities for the 21st Century." (third U.S.-Japan Workshop) held in Seattle, U.S. in October 2002, a future meeting is being planned for Japan in 2005.
(2) Pursue collaborative research on the following topics:
a) Wind characteristics and wind hazard mitigation
i) Wind characteristics in complex terrain
ii) Validation of wind models with full-scale data (joint field studies)
iii) Cooperative quick-response post-storm damage assessments
b) Wind effects on buildings
i) Development of reliable and consistent aerodynamic loads for performance-based structural design
ii) Comparison of wind tunnel data sets and CFD results to full-scale measurements
c) Wind effects on bridges
i) Benchmark study on flutter derivatives
ii) Prediction and mitigation of wind-induced vibration of stay cables
iii) Full-scale measurements
d) Evolving Technologies
i) Next generation wind tunnels: Improvement of methods to simulate non-stationary wind (straight-line, tornado and microburst)
ii) Structural control
(3) Exchange technical information on the following topics
a) Wind characteristics and wind hazards
b) Wind pressures, loadings and dynamic characteristics of buildings
c) Wind-induced response of flexible, cable-suspended bridges and their components
d) Prediction and mitigation techniques for wind effects
(4) Prospective technical collaboration on several researches
a) Distribution of airborne chemical and biological agents
b) Development of a distribution model for volcanic gas
(5) Collaboration with fire engineering researchers by making use of unique facilities: Fire Research Wind Tunnel and Wind and Rain Test Laboratory