CFD and Experimental Study of Wind Pressure Distribution on the High-Rise Building in the Shape of an Equilateral Acute Triangle

Norbert Jendzelovsky,Roland Antal

doi:10.3390/fluids6020081

Abstract

There is a lack of detailed information about wind flow and distribution of wind pressure around atypically shaped high-rise buildings. The national standard EN 1991-1-4 Eurocode 1 used to determine the effects of wind on the territory of Slovakia (and indeed other countries of the European Union) does not have a procedure for determining the effects of wind on objects of triangular shape. This presents a problem for designers and engineers, as there exist no generally binding/valid rules to follow when performing the wind effect analysis. This paper shows the procedure of identification and results of the external wind pressure coefficient for the triangularly shaped high-rise building. Two methods of calculation have been chosen for this purpose. First, experimental measurements were performed on a scaled model of the building cross-section in the wind tunnel. Subsequently, software simulations were performed on the same scaled model in the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) program ANSYS CFX. Results of wind pressure were obtained for two directions of wind flow measured in 16 sampling points distributed irregularly around the circumference of the model. Results were mutually compared and verified. At the end, the wind flow effects on a real-size triangular high-rise building in the built-up area performed by software simulation are shown.

Highlights

The current trend in the building industry is to build tall and irregularly shaped high-rise buildings in residential areas
The wind speed, wind pressure, and turbulence pattern needed for the purposes of the structural engineering can be obtained by two most commonly used methods—wind tunnel experiment and CFD simulation
To compare the results acquired by means of both methods, two assumptions had to be fulfilled: (1) The basic parameters measured directly during the wind tunnel measurements should be used as the boundary conditions for CFD simulation; (2) to use the reduced model having a shape and scale identical to the one subjected to wind tunnel experimental measurements

Summary

Introduction

The current trend in the building industry is to build tall and irregularly shaped high-rise buildings in residential areas. The wind speed, wind pressure, and turbulence pattern needed for the purposes of the structural engineering can be obtained by two most commonly used methods—wind tunnel experiment and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation The determination of these parameters has been the subject of our research in the past [3,4,5]. To compare the results acquired by means of both methods, two assumptions had to be fulfilled: (1) The basic parameters (inlet wind speed, air density, atmospheric pressure) measured directly during the wind tunnel measurements should be used as the boundary conditions for CFD simulation; (2) to use the reduced model having a shape and scale identical to the one subjected to wind tunnel experimental measurements. The comparison of results obtained by two presented methods is shown, as well as a demonstration of the wind effects on the real size high-rise buildings complex calculated by ANSYS CFX software

Analyzed Model

Conclusions