Aerodynamic interference effects of a proposed super high-rise building on the aerodynamic forces and responses of an existing building

Abstract

Though designers pay careful attention to the aerodynamic interference of existing buildings on a proposed building, they often ignore the aerodynamic interference of the proposed building on existing surrounding buildings, even when the former is much larger or taller than the latter. In the present study, the aerodynamic interference effects of a proposed supertall high-rise building, an adjacent twin building of equal height, and other relatively short buildings on a target building are studied via wind tunnel tests. The results show that the overall aerodynamic forces and acceleration responses of the target building dramatically increase when the proposed supertall high-rise building was constructed upstream because of the induced air flow deflection and vortex shedding. In dense urban centres, the interference effects of constructing a supertall high-rise building on existing surrounding buildings cannot be ignored, even if they are weakened by the presence of shorter surrounding buildings.