Wind loads on low buildings with 4:12 gable roofs in open country and suburban exposures

Abstract

Abstract Low building models with 4 : 12 gable roofs and of equal height and width, were modeled at a geometric scale of 1 : 100 and tested at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory (BLWTL) at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). The resulting database provides simultaneously measured instantaneous external pressures for different wind azimuths and two terrain categories. The pressure tap coverage over the exterior of the models allows both structural and local wind loads to be examined. This paper presents comparisons of local pressures and selected structural loads experienced by the low buildings in the suburban and open country exposures. The suburban exposure is shown to produce lower wind loads than those experienced in the open country exposure. Furthermore, a simple building is shown to experience reduced loads as it becomes embedded in an array of similar buildings.