LOCAL PEAK WIND PRESSURE COEFFICIENTS FOR CUBOIDAL BUILDINGS AND CORRESPONDING PRESSURE GUST FACTORS

In a boundary layer wind tunnel local peak wind pressures on three-dim ensional rectangular building forms were measured. Building models wit h different aspect and side ratios were immersed in simulated atmosphe ric boundary layer flows representing rural, suburban, and built-up ex posure. First, from the pressure time series measurements, peak values were extracted and, applying the simplified Cook-Mayne method, local peak wind pressures with a 0.02 probability of occurrence were calcula ted. A strong influence of the turbulence intensity and - especially i n separated flow regions - the building geometry on the magnitude of t he coefficients became obvious. Second, from the measurements local pr essure gust factors were calculated and compared with gust factors whi ch are based on the quasi-steady theory. Particularly in separated flo w regions the former yield more realistic wind loads than the latter.