Wind Load on Fabric Curtain Wall

[steve1]

One of our clients has requested a proposal from us to do the engineering to install a fabric curtain wall around an existing industrial steel building that currently has no walls. The facility is a metal recycling operation that recycles automobiles (they are shredded) and other metal debris. The owner wishes to hang old conveyor belts from the perimeter floor steel to act as a noise barrier and to prevent small bits and pieces from flying outside.

We are looking for guidance on calculating the wind load that would be transmitted to the steel frame through these curtains. My first thought is that this would be similiar to wind on a flag, but we can find no literature on wind forces on vertically hung curtains. Can anyone point to a reference for this? Any thoughts on this subject are welcome.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

If the fabric is tied top and bottom or left to right - I believe the winds will be pretty much the same as a "real" wall.

If it is allowed to "open" and "close" at will - not sure how to figure that one - but obviously would vary with wind speed.

 

[mbullism]

Not sure this helps... apparently there is an empiracal approach for wind loads on flags-

http://www.modernsteel.com/Uploads/Issues/July_2007/30767_flagpole_web.pdf

 

[steve1]

The best approach we have found so far is to consider the curtain rotating in rigid body motion. Then you can equate lateral and vertical moments to calculate displacment which will then provide the axial force in the curtain. We will be very conservative in applying "adjustment" factors to the axial force we arrive at. Also considering a finite element model and a requirement that the curtains be taken down in the advent of forecast winds greater than 30 mph. We have included a provision in our proposal that our methodology be acceptable to the local AHJ prior to release of drawings.