Numerical study of pressure distribution around asymmetric building structures subjected to fire enhanced wind

Presented in this paper are the results of numerical simulation of bushfire enhanced wind and its impact on buildings of various shapes. Using an extended computation domain, the velocity and pressure fields around three buildings which are exposed to wind and bushfire attacks were investigated. Apart from the building shape and orientation, the bushfire intensity is also a control parameter which was varied in the investigation. The results revealed that bushfires can enhance wind and produce greater impact on building structures. The pressure coefficient was found to increase proportionally with increasing bushfire intensity. An L-shaped building in a longitudinal orientation along with the wind direction was able to create a wedge effect to alleviate the wind load