Low-rise Irregular Shaped Buildings

Authors

Manuel A. Matus Mr., Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Civil Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Ioannis Zisis

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Arindam Gan Chowdhury

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Amal Elawady

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Nipesh Pradhananga

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

irregular, low-rise, buildings, pressure distribution, non-rectangular, non-regular, irregularly, aerodynamics, smoke visualization, pressure coefficients

Date of Defense

11-1-2023

Abstract

The United States has faced significant economic and human losses due to various natural disasters (including extreme wind events), with these calamities causing nearly $1,359 billion in economic losses and claiming the lives of 6,890 individuals. Coastal regions in the United States, despite occupying only 10% of the nation's land area, are especially vulnerable to the devastating impact of hurricanes and are home to 40% of the U.S. population. The American landscape has approximately 111 million buildings, with single-family homes representing the majority at 89.7% of the total count, and low-rise residential buildings make up 70% of the entire constructed environment. As architectural designs evolve towards more intricate and non-standard shapes, there is a growing need for further research focused on low-rise structures with irregular configurations. To address this need, comprehensive wind tunnel testing was carried out at Florida International University's Wall of Wind (WOW) Experimental Facility, using realistic models inspired by diverse low-rise building designs found in South Florida, including shapes like T, L, C, and S. These tests revealed that low-rise buildings with irregular floor plans exhibit distinct mean pressure distributions on roof and wall sections, different from those of rectangular buildings. In cases where separated flow occurs, the re-entrant flow re-attaches to the downwind windward wall, leading to significant changes in stagnation point location and the development of turbulent air recirculation. Some side walls (under the effect of turbulent recirculating flows) experience notable decreases in suction pressures, transitioning from positive values near the 90-degree joint to negative values near the upwind edge. Irregularly shaped buildings tended to generate higher positive critical pressure coefficients on roof sections and generally experienced reduced development of negative critical pressure coefficients on some areas of roof sections compared to rectangular buildings. While suction pressure coefficients on roof sections aligned relatively well with current wind provisions, with some exceptions, it was consistently observed that the walls of buildings with irregular shapes exceeded the positive and negative pressure coefficient limits specified in the existing wind provision design guidelines making such structures more prone to damage.

Identifier

FIDC112026

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0307-6732

Recommended Citation

Matus, Manuel A. Mr., "Low-rise Irregular Shaped Buildings" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5410.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5410