Wind and Structures, Vol. 16, No. 6(2013) 629-660 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12989/was.2013.16.6.629 629 Copyright © 2013 Techno-Press, Ltd. http://www.techno-press.org/?journal=was&subpage=8 ISSN: 1226-6116 (Print), 1598-6225 (Online) Computational evaluation of wind loads on buildings: a review Agerneh K. Dagnew 1 and Girma T. Bitsuamlak ∗2 1 Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research, International Hurricane Research Center/Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174, USA 2 Associate Director WindEEE Research Institute, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Western Ontario in London, Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory Rm. 105, ON, Canada, N6A 5B9 (Received March 15, 2012, Revised July 12, 2012, Accepted October 6, 2012) Abstract. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art in the numerical evaluation of wind loads on buildings. Important aspects of numerical modeling including (i) turbulence modeling, (ii) inflow boundary conditions, (iii) ground surface roughness, (iv) near wall treatments, and (vi) quantification of wind loads using the techniques of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are summarized. Relative advantages of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) over Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and hybrid RANS-LES over LES are discussed based on physical realism and ease of application for wind load evaluation. Overall LES based simulations seem suitable for wind load evaluation. A need for computational wind load validations in comparison with experimental or field data is emphasized. A comparative study among numerical and experimental wind load evaluation on buildings demonstrated generally good agreements on the mean values, but more work is imperative for accurate peak design wind load evaluations. Particularly more research is needed on transient inlet boundaries and near wall modeling related issues. Keywords: wind loads; building; computational fluid dynamics; turbulence; ABL; RANS; LES; hybrid LES-RANS; and validation 1. Introduction Buildings, bridges, and all other civil engineering structures must be able to withstand external loads imposed by nature, such as wind, at least to the extent that the disastrous damage of natural force is reduced to the designed acceptable limit (Irwin 2008, 2009). Traditionally wind loads on buildings are obtained from building standards and codes. The majority of building codes and standards usually provide loads for along-wind direction of regular shape buildings under open and suburban exposure. Most often, building standards and codes utilize the quasi-steady and stripe theories approach where the gustiness of wind is customarily factored in by a random-vibration using the “gust factor approach” to predict the along-wind response (Davenport 1967, Simiu 1976). For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 7-05 Standard contains provisions on wind loads for the design of Main Wind Force Resisting Systems (MWFRS), as well as Cladding and Components (C&C) of buildings with common shapes in open ∗Corresponding author, Associate Professor, E-mail: gbitsuam@UWO.ca