Theoretical and Natural Science

- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences


Theoretical and Natural Science

Vol. 11, 17 November 2023


Open Access | Article

Effect of roof design on wind load of buildings through numerical simulation

Yuxin (April) Li * 1
1 Groton School

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Theoretical and Natural Science, Vol. 11, 82-98
Published 17 November 2023. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by EWA Publishing
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation Yuxin (April) Li. Effect of roof design on wind load of buildings through numerical simulation. TNS (2023) Vol. 11: 82-98. DOI: 10.54254/2753-8818/11/20230385.

Abstract

When the wind blows against a building, the resulting force acting on the building at a particular elevation is called the “wind load”. Measuring and minimizing the wind load is crucial to ensure the safety of buildings. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of a building’s roof design on the wind load by evaluating and comparing the wind pressure differences ∆p that different building models experience by leveraging Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The 3D CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software SolidWorks was used to construct building models of identical dimensions with the exception of roofs harboring different shapes and angles. By exerting a wind velocity through flow simulation, flow trajectories and cut plot graphs of wind velocity and pressure surrounding the building models are generated. Wind pressure differences ∆p for each situation were calculated and compared based on the CFD results. Wind tunnel experimentation with building models will also executed to test the computed data and prove its reliability and applicability. The data shows that, among all tested roof designs, the barrel-vaulted roof exhibits the minimum pressure difference (of 171.15 Pa) between the windward and the leeward surface and experiences the least wind load and resists strong wind most effectively. It reduces up to roughly 15% of wind load compared to the worst case tested. For symmetric triangular gable roof designs, the greater base angle leads to greater wind load. Overall, this study provides the theoretical basis and scientific evidence for the building designs of the next generation.

Keywords

computational fluid dynamics, roof shape, wind load, pressure difference, SolidWorks, flow simulation.

References

1. FEMA. (2010). Wind retrofit guide for residential buildings. FEMA P-804. Washington, DC:FEMA.

2. Yuan, C. S. (2007). The effect of building shape modification on wind pressure differences for cross-ventilation of a low-rise building. International Journal of Ventilation, 6(2), 167-176.

3. Meena, R. K., Raj, R., & Anbukumar, S. (2022). Effect of wind load on irregular shape tall buildings having different corner configuration. Sādhanā, 47(3), 1-17.

4. Cao, J., Tamura Y.,& Yoshida A. (2012) Effect of Setback and Its Parameter on Peak Wind Pressures on Multi-Level Flat Roofs, 31(9), 1-8.

5. Munson, B. R., Okiishi, T. H., Huebsch, W. W., & Rothmayer, A. P. (2013). Fluid mechanics. Singapore: Wiley.

6. Tominaga, Y., & Stathopoulos, T. (2009). Numerical simulation of dispersion around an isolated cubic building: comparison of various types of k–ɛ models. Atmospheric Environment, 43(20), 3200-3210.

7. Wendt, J. F. (Ed.). (2008). Computational fluid dynamics: an introduction. Springer Science & Business Media. 5-6.

Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2023 International Conference on Mathematical Physics and Computational Simulation
ISBN (Print)
978-1-83558-133-9
ISBN (Online)
978-1-83558-134-6
Published Date
17 November 2023
Series
Theoretical and Natural Science
ISSN (Print)
2753-8818
ISSN (Online)
2753-8826
DOI
10.54254/2753-8818/11/20230385
Copyright
17 November 2023
Open Access
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Copyright © 2023 EWA Publishing. Unless Otherwise Stated