Estimation Method of Wind-Induced Fatigue of Metal Roof Claddings under Typhoon: Numerical Analysis and Experimental Comparison

Equivalent load cycle sequence (ELCS) is important basic information to know that affects the reliability of the evaluation of wind-induced fatigue on metal roof claddings. In this study, an estimation method of wind-induced fatigue of metal roof claddings is proposed. Based on the measured wind pressure–time history data of the roof claddings on a full-scale low-rise building located along the coast of South China during a typhoon, a new ELCS (NELCS) that reflects typhoon and actual structure wind pressure characteristics in China’s coastal areas is obtained by using the rainflow counting method. The locations of fatigue hot spots of metal roof panels are analyzed by using the finite element analysis method, and the relationship between hot spot stress and wind pressure is obtained. The fatigue damage accumulation of metal roof claddings under the ELCS of a typhoon process is counted by the linear cumulative fatigue theory, commonly known as Miner’s rule. The fatigue damage accumulation of roof claddings with different purlin distances and design wind loads is analyzed using this method and then compared with the results from the dynamic loading test of an air chamber. Results show that the physical test findings are close to the numerical calculation results, which proves that the numerical calculation method has high accuracy and reliability. The comparison between NELCS in this study and the Australian standard low-high-low (LHL) sequence shows that the LHL loading sequence is conservative.