Experimental Study of the Wind Pressure Field on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper concerns an experimental study on the wind pressures over the surface of a worldwide known Gothic Cathedral: Notre Dame of Paris. The experimental tests have been conducted in the CRIACIV wind tunnel, Prato (Italy), on a model of the Cathedral at the scale 1:200, reproducing the atmospheric boundary layer. Two types of tests have been conducted: with and without the surrounding modeling the part of the city of Paris near the Cathedral. This has been done, on the one hand, for evaluating the effect of the surrounding buildings onto the wind pressure distribution on the Cathedral, and, on the other hand, to have a wind pressure distribution plausible for any other Cathedral with a similar shape. The tests have been done for all the wind directions and the mean and peak pressures have been recorded. The results emphasize that the complex geometry of this type of structures is responsible for a peculiar aerodynamic behavior that does not allow estimating correctly the wind loads on the various parts of the Cathedral based on codes and standards, which are tailored for ordinary regular buildings.