<p>The failure process of RC hyperbolic cooling towers (HCTs) under fluctuating wind loads was investigated numerically in a case study. The layered shell element was adopted to model the tower shell, and the damaged plasticity model and bilinear model were employed to represent the nonlinear behavior of concrete and reinforcement respectively. The material constitutive law models were introduced in detail and then validated on several structures under static loads. Finally, the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) was conducted on a representative HCT to pursue the failure process, using a sample of fluctuating wind loads obtained from wind tunnel experiment. Comparatively, the ultimate static analysis using the normative equivalent static wind loads was also conducted. The failure process in IDA was illustrated from the load–displacement curves, distribution and evolution of strains, cracking and stresses, and finally the material plasticity development and structural stiffness degradation. The failure of the HCT under fluctuating wind loads shows certain differences with that under the equivalent static wind loads. The former is mainly attributed to the continuous concrete shell cracking in large-scale, and the steel yielding under fluctuating wind loads is not as severe as that in the static wind loads.</p>