Aerodynamic Architectural Features to Mitigate Peak Pressures over Low-Rise Buildings

A number of aerodynamic devices to perturb or modify the flow over low-rise buildings are proposed. The purpose of these devices is to reduce the adverse effects of wind over low-rise buildings and to mitigate the pressures on the roofs to lower vacuum levels. Pressure measurements were performed on a scaled down model of the well-known TTU experimental building of the Wind Engineering Research Facility (WERFL) at TTU University. Different results were obtained: reduction of average peek vacuum, smoothing of windward pressure distribution on the roof and narrowing and localizing of the suction pressure zones on the roof. Results that may be of interest to other disciplines such as heat transfer are also reported.