Effects of curved slopes, high ridges and double eaves on wind pressures on traditional Chinese hip roofs

Abstract

Traditional Chinese hip roofs have some special features, including curved slopes, high ridges and double eaves, which are different from conventional linear-sloped hip roofs. In order to investigate wind pressure characteristics acting on traditional Chinese hip roofs, wind tunnel tests are carried out in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Mean, fluctuating and peak wind pressures acting on traditional Chinese hip roofs have been examined and compared with those on conventional hip roofs, and the effects of the curved slopes, high ridges and double eaves are investigated.Mean, fluctuating and peak wind pressure coefficients of traditional curved Chinese hip roofs are larger in magnitude than those of conventional linear protruded-ridge hip roofs. The high ridges of conventional protruded-ridge hip roofs have significant effects on the distributions of mean and peak wind pressure coefficients, compared with conventional non-protruded-ridge hip roofs. For traditional Chinese hip roofs with double eaves, mean, fluctuating and peak wind pressure coefficients on the upper surfaces of the higher layer are significantly decreased in magnitude. Three components of mean and peak wind force coefficients acting on the roofs and the area-averaged net wind pressure coefficients acting on the roof slopes are also discussed and compared for the above cases.