Fatigue Failure of Roof Components Subjected to Wind Loading

Roof components at the windward edges are subjected to large wind loads, and cladding fixing and batten-truss connections in these regions are most susceptible to fatigue failure. The fatigue performance of typical roof cladding and battens used in Australia have been studied over the past twenty-five years. These studies have found that the number of cycles to failure is dependent on a range of parameters including the maximum load, load range and sequence of load application. External, internal and net pressures measured on areas representative of cladding fixing and batten truss connections on the roof windward edge region on the TTU full-scale building are statistically analysed and the rainflow method is used to determine the cycle counts. The pressure fluctuations on these regions have similar characteristics with most of the cycles with a load ratio, R > 0.