Design of Structures for Wind

Once in a while you get to listen people who are really good in highly technical engineering domain. Today was one such day. The ASCE student chapter hosted Mr. Rahul P S (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahul-p-s-708b13126/), who is the Director and Technical Head of RWDI India at Thiruvananthapuram (https://www.rwdi.com).  

Rahul is a key member of RWDI’s wind engineering team and has contributed insight and analysis to some of the most notable projects around the world, including the groundbreaking Hudson Yards development in New York City, and the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, the world’s tallest temple. He ia an experienced Wind Engineering Consultant and offers design guidance to architects, structural engineers and developers in the Asia Pacific region and helps to develop cost-effective building designs that are well adapted to local climates.

Rahuls session was packed with knowledge pertaining to wind loading, its effects on different types of structures, how to estimate the loading and the challenges involved in the design. Using real examples he demonstrated how geometrical design can influence the wind loading on a structure. He took the participants on a world tour - a tour of all the notable structures across the world which were modelled and tested by RWDI. 

The session included videos of wind tunnel testing, behaviour of structures subjected to wind loading, pictures of creating models, terrains for testing, the data acquisition mechanism and many more. It was a fascinating journey through the world of wind tunnel testing of structures, a topic which is normally not discussed in classroom. The session introduced the participants to the wonderful world of wind tunnel testing of structures. Gokul Ajith, S5CE, did a great job of hosting the session.