Peak gust pressures acting on the roof and wall edges of a low-rise building

摘要

Wind-induced pressures were measured simultaneously at many points on wind tunnel model, typical of simple low-rise buildings, in two kinds of turbulent boundary layers, which simulated the natural winds over typical open-country and suburban terrains. Special attention is paid to the spatial and temporal characteristics of the pressures near the roof and wall edges. This paper presents the results for (i) variation of the instantaneous pressure distribution with time, during a time period which captures the occurrence of the maximum observed suction; (ii) statistical characteristics of the pressure fluctuations; and (iii) effects of the time and spatial averaging on the magnitude of the effective minimum pressures. Based on the results, an empirical formula for estimating the minimum pressure coefficients, using a peak factor approach, has been developed. Quasi-steady theory is applied to evaluate the RMS pressure coefficients. The relation between the spatial and time averages is also discussed.