A COMPUTER-PROGRAM FOR DETERMINING WIND PRESSURES ON 2-D STRUCTURES

A computer program in Fortran for the numerical determination of wind loads on rigid civil-engineering structures is described, The program combines the direct boundary element method with the discrete vortex method in order to simulate the potential and viscous-flow characteristics of wind flow around structures under two-dimensional conditions. The flow chart and the subroutines of the program are given and explained in detail. The program employs linear boundary elements, and the simulation proceeds in a stepwise fashion in time. It is easy to use and can easily run on a personal computer. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate its use and demonstrate its simplicity, speed, and satisfactory accuracy. Thus this program becomes a valuable tool for the design engineer who does not have any further need to resort to expensive experiments or complicated numerical methods for the computation of wind loads on structures.