Two parallel cable trusses-supported photovoltaic system: Extreme wind-induced response and displacement-based gust response factors

Abstract

With the growth of the solar photovoltaic industry, cable-supported photovoltaic structures (CSPSs) have become a research focus. Gust response factor (GRF) quantifies the amplification of dynamic responses relative to mean wind responses and is crucial for designing. However, unified standards for determining the peak factor are absent, and GRFs vary widely across structural forms, necessitating focused studies on different CSPS types. This study investigates the wind-induced vibrations and GRFs of the two parallel cable trusses-supported photovoltaic systems, using tilt angle, turbulence intensity, and wind speed as variables. Displacement responses were examined by aeroelastic model tests in the wind fields with varying turbulence intensities, focusing on Gaussian or non-Gaussian properties. Peak factors were derived using the piecewise Hermite polynomial model to calculate extreme responses and GRFs. Analyses reveal that buffeting-dominated responses exhibit Gaussian characteristics, with skewness near 0, kurtosis near 3, and a peak factor around 3.9, while self-excited vibrations exhibit hardening non-Gaussian properties, with kurtosis around 1.5 and a peak factor below 2.5. Turbulence intensity, with a feature importance exceeding 0.8, is the dominant factor affecting GRFs. Empirical models incorporating turbulence intensity, wind speed, and tilt angle align well with experimental data, demonstrating engineering applicability.