The basic wind pressure or the reference wind pressure for structural design varies greatly across complex terrain. Since only a few meteorological stations can provide adequate extreme wind speed records, it is very difficult to appropriately determine the basic wind pressure for a specific site without a long history of meteorological records. To solve this problem, a mesoscale CFD model was developed and optimized based on geographic information data for Taizhou and suitable turbulence models were selected for CFD simulation. The mean extreme wind speed and the corresponding direction at five main weather stations with long observation histories in Taizhou were used as the verification conditions to perform the CFD simulation of the extreme wind field. The maximum wind speeds of the rural areas, cities, and streets of Taizhou were obtained from the results of the mesoscale CFD simulations. Then, the 50-year return period reference wind pressures were calculated and could be used for the wind-resistant structural design of buildings for sites without a long history of meteorological records. The reliability of the results was verified by comparing the simulation results with the observation data at five main stations with a long history.

Ceramsite aerated concrete blocks (CACB) are widely used in reinforced concrete frame infill walls due to their green, energy-saving, waste utilization, and thermal insulation characteristics. Investigations into building projects in areas with low seismic intensity and frequent typhoons have found that the cracking of CACB infill walls is severe, which hinders the use of this material. This article was dedicated to studying the reasons and development process of cracks in CACB infill walls, and proposing solutions. First, a 13 story framework building was analyzed using PKPM software to study the inter-story drift ratio under local reference wind pressure and gust wind pressure. Then, three full-scale models were made for quasi-static tests under horizontal loads to study the correlation between inter-story drift ratio and infill wall cracking. Experimental studies have shown that the inter-story drift ratio was 1/2149 and 1/2347 for infill wall frames with and without windows, respectively, when CACB infill walls cracked. Comparing PKPM analysis and experimental results, it could be seen that when the building was subjected to local reference wind pressure, the inter-story drift ratio was 1/2433, which was smaller than the cracking inter-story drift ratio. When subjected to the wind pressure corresponding to the gust wind, the structural deformation was much greater than the cracking inter-story drift ratio. Therefore, it could be concluded that the main reason for diagonal cracks in CACB infill walls was the unreasonable use of reference wind pressure in current design. To avoid the diagonal cracks, gust wind pressure should be used as the horizontal load instead of reference wind pressure in design. Simultaneously to improve both structural construction measures and material crack resistance to avoid cracking of CACB infill walls.

Expanded polystyrene concrete (EPSC) offers low density and thermal insulation but is limited by brittle flexural failure. This study evaluates whether high-toughness modified polypropylene (HTPP) fibers can improve the post-cracking response of EPSC and translate the material-level gains into exterior wall-panel design under wind loading. Six mixtures containing 0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5 vol% HTPP fibers were prepared. Compressive tests, four-point bending tests, and scanning electron microscopy were conducted. Flexural toughness was assessed using average residual flexural strength together with the Nemkumar, literature-based, JSCE-SF4, and modified PCER methods. The mechanical indices generally increased and then declined as fiber content rose, with the best overall performance at 0.9 vol%. Relative to plain EPSC, this mixture increased compressive strength by 21.5%, flexural strength by 277.2%, and average residual flexural strength by 681.3%. The four toughness evaluation approaches produced consistent trends and showed that HTPP fibers most strongly improved post-peak load retention and energy absorption. Microscopic observations indicated that fiber bridging, crack-path deflection, stress transfer, and interfacial energy dissipation contributed to the enhanced toughness, whereas excessive fiber addition reduced the benefits. Using the measured residual capacity in a wind-load design model showed that HTPP fiber reinforcement can enlarge the allowable unsupported span of EPSC exterior wall panels. These findings identify an effective fiber dosage and provide a basis for the structural use of lightweight EPSC panels.

In response to engineering issues such as cracking and waterproofing failure caused by lateral displacement of the main structural layers when autoclaved-aerated-concrete (AAC) exterior wall panels are applied in the typhoon-prone areas of Southeastern Zhejiang, a form of embedded connection structure is proposed. This structure combines anchoring reliability with deformation adaptability. Based on the typhoon wind load in the Kanmen area of Yuhuan County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, as the design basis, AAC exterior wall panel frame test specimens are designed and fabricated. Out-of-plane wind resistance static load tests are conducted. The deflection and strain patterns of the test specimens are analyzed to verify the wind-resistance bearing capacity and deformation coordination ability of this connection form. The test results indicate that under the standard value of typhoon wind load of 5.47 kN/m², the maximum deflection of the test specimen is 2.155 mm, with a deflection ratio of 7.98 × 10⁻⁴, which is far below the specification limit. The measured maximum tensile and compressive strains does not reach the cracking strain of AAC material, and the component does not exhibit cracking or sudden stiffness changes. Both the out-of-plane wind resistance and deformation coordination capabilities meet the requirements for use in typhoon areas. This study provides solid theoretical support and engineering reference for the application of AAC exterior wall panels in prefabricated buildings in high-wind-pressure areas.