Wind Load on Building Guardrails

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Using larger format glass infill panels as building guardrails becomes more popular in recent design and construction of high-rise**buildings. For this kind of guardrails, wind load is an important component of the design load. However, no clear quantification is**available for the magnitude of the wind load acting on a guardrails, neither has any systematic on-site measurement or wind tunnel**study been performed to collect such information. Besides, there is no Canadian standard specifically deals with the design,**material or performance requirements for guardrails used in and around buildings. The current design approach adopted by Greco**and other designers is to assume that the wind-induced pressure on the guardrail is the same as the cladding pressure. This**would result in a much conservative design of larger, thicker and thus heavier glass infill panels which would add unnecessary**self-weight and cost to the building. To improve the structural efficiency of the building guardrail systems designed by Greco and**increase the competitiveness of the company in the market, the proposed project aims at conducting a comprehensive wind tunnel**study dedicated to quantify wind load on building guardrails. The wind-induced pressure on typical high-rise building balcony**models will be measured. The impact of various important parameters, including the size, the configuration, the supporting**condition and the installation location of the balcony, as well as the speed and the direction of the oncoming wind, on the**magnitude of the wind load on the balcony model will be investigated.