EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF WIND PRESSURES ON IRREGULAR- PLAN SHAPE BUILDINGS

This paper presents the experimental results of wind tunnel model tests to evaluate wind pressure distributions on different faces of typical-plan shape buildings. Models, having the same plan area and height but varying plan shape (“L ” and “T”) are tested in a closed circuit wind tunnel under boundary layer flow. The models are made from Perspex sheets at a geometrical scale of 1:500. The effectiveness of the model shape in changing the surface pressure distribution is assessed over an extended range of wind directions from 00 to 1800 at an interval of 150. Fluctuating values of wind pressure are measured at pressure points on all surfaces and mean, maximum, minimum and r.m.s. values of pressure coefficients are evaluated. The experimental data for “L ” and “T ” plan shaped building models showed different wall pressure distributions from those expected for rectangular/square models. It is also observed that there is a large variation in pressure along the height as well as along the width of different faces of the models. The location and magnitude of the measured peak pressure co-efficient vary considerably with wind direction. It is also observed that changing the plan dimensions considerably affects the wind pressure distributions on different faces of the building models. J. A. Amin and A. K. Ahuja