Abstract:
In order to study the effects of turbulence characteristics on the wind loads and the flow characteristics for rectangular high-rise buildings, wind tunnel pressure tests were carried out for rectangular buildings with 9 depth-to-width ratios under 4 different terrains. Effects of the turbulence intensity and the integral length scale on the mean, fluctuating and peak pressures, the cross-wind aerodynamic force spectra, and the separation/reattachment flow characteristics for buildings with different depth-to-width ratios were examined. Results show that as the turbulence intensity increases, earlier flow reattachment occurs, and the reattachment point under suburban terrain appears about 30% earlier than that in the open terrain case. Under the separation flow, magnitudes of both the mean and the peak wind pressures decrease, and the most unfavorable fluctuating and peak pressures occur close to the leading edge. As the integral length scale decreases, the mean and the peak pressures on the windward, leeward and side surfaces decrease, but the integral scale has limited effects on the flow patterns for the separation/reattachment flow as well as on the pressure distributions under the separation flow. Among all the depth-to-width ratios studied, turbulence characteristics have greater effects for buildings with depth-to-width ratios between 1 and 2.