Wind Environment Around Buildings

Copies are supplied by TSO's on-demand publishing service

Tall buildings can deflect wind down towards the ground, producing unpleasantly high speeds in pedestrian areas. Studies at model-scale in wind tunnels and at full-scale around existing buildings have made it possible to estimate the ratios of these speeds to the free, undisturbed wind speed at critical positions for common layouts and shapes of buildings. It is suggested that a design should aim to keep the mean wind speed at pedestrian level below 5 m/s for as much of the time as possible. Some examples of wind speed ratios are given and the likely occurrence of wind speeds greater than 5 m/s is estimated for particular sites. Remedies used to eliminate high wind speeds from pedestrian areas near to tall buildings are described. Situations are specified under which high priority should be given to the wind environment in the planning of redevelopment schemes. Designs that help to protect pedestrian areas from the downflow from tall buildings are outlined.

Wind Issues in the Design of Buildings explains the ways that structural designers accommodate the impact of extreme wind events on the built environment. By studying the flow and pressure fields around buildings, architects and engineers can identify and select the best strategies for ensuring that a building will resist the loads due to high winds, maintaining pleasant conditions in outdoor spaces, assessing natural ventilation potential, and seeing that any exhaust fumes are dispersed adequately. This volume identifies wind characteristics and describes the effects of winds generated by hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms. It explains the internal and external pressures on a building's cladding (skin) and the effects of wind-borne debris. A building's response to the structural loads caused by wind is outlined, along with techniques for resisting wind. A chapter is devoted to wind tunnels and physical modeling to predict structural loads, cladding response, pedestrian experience, topographic effects, and snow deposition. A section of frequently asked questions, a glossary, and recommended reading make this material in this volume accessible to students and nontechnical members of project teams. Structural engineers and architects will find this book a useful aide in explaining wind-related issues to clients, builders, building officials, and owners. Students in structural and architectural engineering will welcome the clear, concise presentation of an important component of structural design.

Since the 1960s, wind tunnel testing has become a commonly used tool in the design of tall buildings. It was pioneered, in large part, during the design of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. Since those early days of wind engineering, wind tunnel testing techniques have developed in sophistication, but these techniques are not widely understood by the designers using the results. As a direct result, the CTBUH Wind Engineering Working Group was formed to develop a concise guide for the non-specialist. The primary goal of this guide is to provide an overview of the wind tunnel testing process for design professionals. This knowledge allows readers to ask the correct questions of their wind engineering consultants throughout the design process. This is not an in-depth guide to the technical intricacies of wind tunnel testing, it focusses instead on the information the design community needs, including: a unique methodology for the presentation of wind tunnel results to allow straightforward comparison of results from different wind tunnel laboratories. advice on when a tall building is likely to be sufficiently sensitive to wind effects to benefit from a wind tunnel test background for assessing whether design codes and standards are applicable details of the types of tests that are commonly conducted descriptions of the fundamentals of wind climate and the interaction of wind and tall buildings This unique book is an essential guide for all designers of tall buildings, and anyone else interested in the process of wind tunnel testing for tall buildings.

MOP 67 provides guidelines to assist architects and engineers involved with wind tunnel model testing of buildings and structures.