Investigation of wind effects around square and circular cross-section normal and lift-up building models

In this study, the wind effects around normal and lift-up building models with square and circular cross-sections were investigated experimentally and numerically. The mean and fluctuating wind pressures on the surfaces of square and circular cross-section normal and lift-up building models with a 50 mm core height, immersed in a simulated atmospheric boundary layer, were obtained experimentally for different wind incidence angles. The mean pressure distributions on the surfaces of normal and lift-up building models with three different core heights, and the flow field structures and velocity distributions around the models are calculated by three-dimensional steady-state numerical solutions using the Realizable k-ε turbulence model. The most critical mean and minimum pressure coefficients occurred near the front roof corner of the square cross-section lift-up model with values of 3.38 and -3.86, respectively, at a 45º wind incidence angle. For both square and circular cross-section lift-up building models, the highest rate of increase in velocity values occurred in the lift-up building models with a 50 mm core height and width/diameter. The surface pressures and velocity values calculated by numerical solutions are consistent with the experimental data.