Wind tunnel test for outdoor billboards in coastal city

To address the safety hazards of coastal outdoor billboards under extreme wind disasters and the limitations of existing design codes, this study conducts systematic wind tunnel tests on three kinds of typical billboards (floor-standing single-panel, single-column double-panel, and single-column triple-panel configurations) using 1:20 scale rigid models. The surface pressure distribution is measured through pressure tap measurements. Key findings reveal: (1) the high pressure zone on windward panel shifts toward the wind direction with the increasing wind angle; (2) the extreme values of positive/negative local wind pressure occur in the 45°/90° wind direction cases, and the local wind pressure coefficients can be up to 1.39/−1.28, respectively, exceeding the values specified in the codes; (3) the extreme positive value of overall average wind pressure, up to 0.95, occurs in the 0° wind direction case. The findings provide quantitative benchmarks for wind-resistant design optimization of billboard.