Investigation of Wind Structure Interactions for Low Rise Buildings

Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton FL

Investigators

Abstract

Historical records have shown that damage to properties and loss of lives due to extreme winds have occurred almost every year, and that at current levels, the total economic loss in the US has been estimated in the order of $40 billion per year. Most wind damages occur in low-rise buildings, yet systematic fundamental studies of wind flow over them are very few. In the proposed study, interactions between extreme winds and low-rise building are investigated experimentally on building models in a water-channel facility. Flow visualization techniques are used to gain fundamental insights into complicated wind-structure interactions, in particular, the characteristics of roof flow and base flow around typical low-rise building. The effects of wind directionality and of nearby interfering structures are also investigated. Carefully controlled water flows are produced to resemble the natural wind flow in action. Stress pattern on a building envelope is investigated using the techniques of photoelasticity. Photoelastic coating is applied on a building model, which is then tested in the water channel to reveal the distribution of stresses and their magnitudes during wind-building interaction. The ability to observe simultaneously the nearby flow field and the stress distribution on the building, resulting from fluid loading, represents a significant advance towards understanding the detailed nature of wind-structure interaction. The results of the present investigation are of fundamental importance to developing a sound engineering-science base for the design of low-rise buildings against extreme wind.