Comparison of spectral density models to simulate wind records

Due to the lack of real wind records to perform dynamic analysis of structural systems, civil and structural engineers commonly use simplified and conservative approaches to consider the dynamic effects of wind. With the aim to provide wind records, several studies suggest that the use of spectral density models and configuration of basic wind speed and terrain roughness are adequate to simulate the velocity field of the turbulent wind; however, nowadays there is no enough information to conclude which is the best spectral density model to simulate wind records for various configurations of basic wind speed and terrain roughness. For this reason, in this paper different scenarios are simulated in order to study the behavior of six spectral density functions which are frequently used in wind engineering. It is observed that the models proposed by von Karman, von Karman-Harris and Solari are the best alternative to simulate wind records.