Wind loads for stadium lighting towers according to Eurocode 1

Abstract

The determination of actions on structures is an important step of in the design process. In nature, so many outer and inner actions are acting on structures continuously. The two most important ones of those actions are the earthquake and wind actions. For some structures, i.e. towers, high chimneys or lighting towers, the priority of these two severe actions can change. Wind forces can become a governing force on the design of these structures. Therefore, the determination of wind forces for these tall, slender and wind-sensitive structures becomes very important. Also, these tall and slender structures have a high ratio of height to least diameter that makes them more slender and wind-sensitive than any other structures. In this study, the determination of wind loads for a selected and modeled stadium lighting tower was given according to Eurocode 1 which is an international well-known standard. This study showed that it is difficult to calculate wind loads of stadium lighting towers according to Eurocode 1 because of the complexity of the document, insufficient explanation of some formulas like resonant response factor and unclear graph sections for the reader. This study is believed to enlighten the way of the users of Eurocode 1.