Author(s)

ALEKSANDER PISTOL, BARTOSZ KIESIEWICZ, ANDRZEJ FLAGA

Abstract

The paper describes wind tunnel model tests conducted at Wind Engineering Laboratory of Cracow University of Technology, which focused on a planned high-rise building (165 m tall) located in Warsaw, Poland. The aim of the tests was to determine the wind action on the subject building’s structure and claddings. A total of 383 measuring points were distributed on the external surfaces of the building. Local values of wind pressures and suctions at each measuring point were calculated on the basis of wind tunnel measurements using quasi-static extreme peak values envelope model. These values may be used to design the cladding of the building. However, in order to determine the global values of wind pressure/wind forces on the structure, a spatial averaging of these values is required. This allows taking into account the vortex scale in relation to the size of the building, that is, the fact that the peak values of wind pressure are not present simultaneously at each measuring point. Such an approach can render the results obtained from model tests closer to the reality. It provides a conservative estimation of wind pressure values without too large overestimation of the wind actions, which could result in unnecessary overdesigning of structure elements and larger material expenditure. The paper discusses in detail the method suggested by the authors and the obtained results. The results are provided in the form of 3D surface plots on the building’s façades and global wind forces acting on the whole structure. The obtained results allowed the consulting engineers to adopt reliable and robust values of wind pressure acting on the structure. These values are calculated taking into account both the non-stationary, non-uniform nature of the wind and aerodynamic interference of the building’s surroundings, which in large portion consists of other high-rise buildings.

Keywords

wind tunnel tests, high-rise buildings, quasi-static model, design wind action, spatial averaging