Internal and net envelope pressures in a building having quasi-static flexibility and a dominant opening

Abstract

This paper describes a study on the influence of the flexibility of building envelope on pressures inside and net pressures on the roof of low-rise buildings with a dominant opening. It is shown that building flexibility lowers the Helmholtz resonance frequency and increases damping in the internal pressure system as indicated by the lowering of the resonant peak in the internal pressure admittance function. Consequently, it was found that the flexibility of the building reduces fluctuations in internal and net envelope pressures, as indicated by somewhat smaller RMS pressure coefficients relative to the case of a rigid building.