JDH Consulting
6 Charman Rd. Mentone Victoria Australia 3194.
Ph: +61 3 9584 5885
e-mail: John.Holmes[at]jdhconsult.com

 

New Wind Actions Standard issued:
Dr. John Holmes chaired the Standards Australia sub-committee responsible for the re-drafting of the Australian and New Zealand Standard for wind loading that was issued in March 2011 as AS/NZS1170.2-2011.

In 2005, a "Guide to AS/NZS1170.2:2002" written by John Holmes and Andrew King was published (http://www.1170actions.com). This user-friendly guide to the Standard contains nine worked examples and answers to frequently-asked questions. More than 1700 copies of this book have now been sold. This book will be updated shortly to cover the changes in the 2011 Standard

JDH Consulting participates in investigations following Cyclone 'Yasi': Dr. John Holmes joined a team assembled by the Cyclone Testing Station, Townsville, and the Australian Building Codes Board, which investigated the effects of severe Tropical Cyclone 'Yasi'. 'Yasi' crossed the coast of North Queensland near Mission Beach in the early hours of February 3rd 2011.

A full report on the windfield and the damage produced both by wind forces and storm surge in 'Yasi' is available from: http://www.jcu.edu.au/cts/research_reports/index.htm

Dr. John Holmes awarded a Davenport Medal: In July 2011 John Holmes was awarded the Alan G. Davenport medal (Senior Award) by the International Association for Wind Engineering (http://www.iawe.org). He joined three other recipients of this award for 2011, which is named after Professor Alan Davenport, the pioneer of modern wind engineering who died in 2009. The award was given to John Holmes for 'his many practical contributions to modeling and analyses of wind effects on structures and development of wind load standards'.

JDH Consulting collaborates with Synergetics: JDH Consulting has recently formed a professional relationship with Synergetics Pty. Ltd (http://www.synergetics.net.au), an environmental engineering group based in West Melbourne that specializes in the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to a variety of wind-related problems such as pollutant dispersion, and ventilation. This will give JDH Consulting direct access to CFD expertise for possible application to wind loads on structures.

Harry Fricke assists JDH Consulting: Harry Fricke assists on JDH Consulting projects on a part-time basis. Harry, a graduate in aeronautical engineering, has had about 12 years experience in wind engineering with MEL Consultants and Vipac Engineers and Scientists. He has expertise in environmental wind effects in urban developments, and has a strong interest in renewable energy. Harry has contributed to a JDH project assessing the wind environment for the proposed new Ararat Prison in Victoria and for a proposed multi-storey development in Richmond, Victoria, and to assessment of wind loads on roof-mounted solar panels.

New wind tunnel opened in Hong Kong: A new wind tunnel, designed by JDH Consulting for the Department of Building and Construction at the City University of Hong Kong, was first run in early 2007, and officially opened in December 2008. Of open circuit configuration, the wind tunnel was tailored to fit into a very limited space available to the University. A new enclosure for the wind tunnel was constructed on top of an existing building. A large centrifugal blower provides the airflow, with flow processing by a series of screens and a flow straightener in a settling chamber. Other features of the wind tunnel are a slotted roof to alleviate 'blockage' problems (i.e. flow problems created by large models occupying the test section), and computer-controlled roughness elements. The wind tunnel is now being used to investigate wind loading and environmental problems in Hong Kong.

John Holmes becomes Editor of an international journal:
In 2006 Dr. John Holmes was invited to become an Editor-in-Chief of the international journal ‘Wind and Structures’ published by Techno Press of Korea. This journal publishes issues every two months with fully-reviewed papers on the structural engineering aspects of wind engineering (http://technopress.kaist.ac.kr).

Book on wind loading :
A general book on wind loading titled "Wind Loading of Structures" authored by John Holmes, appeared in 2001, with the second edition published in 2007 by Taylor and Francis of London, U.K. (http://www.taylorandfrancis.com). The book (379 pages) is intended for practising design engineers, as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students. It has been used for teaching at several American universities, including Louisiana State, Texas Tech and the University of Texas. The second edition of "Wind Loading of Structures" was published in 2007. Separate chapters cover wind loads on various structures: low-rise buildings, tall buildings, bridges, transmission lines, etc. The last chapter reviews six major international wind loading codes and standards. An Appendix reviews the extreme wind climate for 74 different countries, territories or regions.

Current Work