Reliability-Based Calibration of Region-Dependent Companion Load Combination Factors for Snow and Wind Loads in Canada

Snow load poses substantial risks for buildings and infrastructure systems, especially in regions susceptible to significant snow accumulation. The design of building structures and infrastructure is often carried out by considering the snow load and concurrent wind load. In the present study, we carried out the reliability-based calibration of the companion load combination factors for snow and wind loads by considering the site-specific statistics of, and probabilistic models for, the snow load and concurrent wind load across Canada. The daily recorded environmental data from 222 meteorological stations were utilized in the analysis to incorporate the inherent dependency between the snow and wind loads. The calibration results were employed to recommend the region-dependent companion load combination factors, which have not been reported in the literature. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the impact of return periods and probability distributions on these factors.