Determination of pressure difference coefficient of shuttle elevator doors in super high-rise buildings under stack effect

Abstract

The stack-induced airflow of super high-rise buildings in winter results in obvious indoor environmental problems at the shuttle elevator shaft. Strong pressure difference can cause malfunction of elevators. The estimation of pressure differences at the shuttle elevator doors under different building layout and climate conditions is still a challenge to obtain in engineering application. Considering the difficulties of measuring and simulating the air leakage characteristics of various components, a dimensionless metric, the Pressure Difference Coefficient of Elevator Doors, Cele, is defined according to the theory of pressure distribution in buildings. First, the accuracy of the index calculation results was verified in an elevator test tower. The hand-calculated method to predict the pressure differences at the shuttle elevator doors is convenient and reliable when compared with measurement and simulation. Then, two influence factors on Cele, floor plan and flow exponents are discussed. The determination method of recommended Cele is proposed by analyzing with different building partition layers. The recommended values are given under different shaft heights and temperature difference. Moreover, the novel method and metric were applied in an actual building to determine the number and air tightness of partition layers under the target conditions. This paper provides an evaluation reference for the convenient and effective design of elevator type selection and building layout of super high-rise buildings under stack effect.