Net pressures on a low-rise full-scale building

Abstract

Abstract The quasi-steady design approach is used by many wind loading standards such as AS1170.2 1989, to determine the design net (i.e. external–internal) pressures on cladding elements and fixtures of low-rise buildings. External and internal pressures measured on the WERFL test building at Texas Tech were used to determine the net pressures at selected points, representative of cladding elements and fixtures on the walls and roof of the building, when nominally sealed and when containing large openings. The mean and fluctuating internal pressures were small in the nominally sealed building and the net pressures derived from AS1170.2 were conservative. In the case of the building with a dominant windward opening, the internal pressure closely follows the external pressure at the opening, and the net pressures derived from AS1170.2 were smaller compared to the measured pressures in some areas near the roof windward edge.