CFD and Experimental Study of Wind Pressure Distribution on the High-Rise Building in the Shape of an Equilateral Acute Triangle

Abstract

There is a lack of detailed information about wind flow and distribution of wind pressure around atypically shaped high-rise buildings. The national standard EN 1991-1-4 Eurocode 1 used to determine the effects of wind on the territory of Slovakia (and indeed other countries of the European Union) does not have a procedure for determining the effects of wind on objects of triangular shape. This presents a problem for designers and engineers, as there exist no generally binding/valid rules to follow when performing the wind effect analysis. This paper shows the procedure of identification and results of the external wind pressure coefficient for the triangularly shaped high-rise building. Two methods of calculation have been chosen for this purpose. First, experimental measurements were performed on a scaled model of the building cross-section in the wind tunnel. Subsequently, software simulations were performed on the same scaled model in the CFD (computational fluid dynamics) program ANSYS CFX. Results of wind pressure were obtained for two directions of wind flow measured in 16 sampling points distributed irregularly around the circumference of the model. Results were mutually compared and verified. At the end, the wind flow effects on a real-size triangular high-rise building in the built-up area performed by software simulation are shown.