Estimation of extreme wind pressure coefficients of buildings using POT with automated threshold selection

Extreme wind pressure coefficients of the high-rise buildings are critical for determining wind loads on components and claddings. To address the issue of insufficient samples in the widely used block maximum (BM) method, the peak over threshold (POT) method has been introduced in wind engineering for more effective and accurate estimation of extreme wind pressure coefficients. However, it is quite a challenge to appropriately select the threshold. This study proposes an automated threshold selection procedure using L-moment theory. Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to substantiate the theoretical feasibility of this procedure. Utilizing data from wind-tunnel pressure measurements of a high-rise building model, the study automatically selects thresholds and estimates extreme wind pressure coefficients. Comparative analysis with the BM method demonstrates that thresholds determined through automated threshold selection procedure exhibit stability with minimal deviation from standard extreme values. Furthermore, the developed procedure can effectively adapt to non-Gaussian characteristics of the sample time histories.