Wind tunnel simulation requirements to assess wind loads on low-rise buildings

Observations of mean, r.m.s. and peak pressures on the roof of a 1:50 scale model of the experimental building at the Wind Engineering Research Field Laboratory (WERFL) at Texas Tech University are discussed. Pressure coefficients were acquired with the model placed in turbulent shear layers developed over several different roughness configurations in the boundary-layer wind tunnel which is part of the wind load test facility at Clemson University. This investigation was performed to study the effects of the different flow parameters on the observed pressure coefficients, including the effects of horizontal turbulence intensities, integral scales and the small-scale turbulence content in the incident flow. Based on the compairson of the results from the Clemson laboratory with those obtained in the field, priority flow-simulation criteria are established for the assessment of surface pressures on low-rise structures obtained from wind tunnel model experiments.