Impact of surroundings on the local peak pressure in high-rise building clusters

Abstract

This study contributes to the field of wind engineering by evaluating the local peak pressure coefficients in a generic high-rise building cluster. Unlike previous studies that have focused on isolated buildings or buildings in tandem arrangements, this research considers the impact of four buildings when surrounding the principal one. Both experimental and numerical techniques are applied, demonstrating the capabilities of the LES method in predicting the local peak pressure. The obtained results offer new insights into the complex interplay between buildings and the wind environment in high-rise building clusters, especially in the roof zone. The experiments reveal higher peak suction for the building in the group than the isolated at all wind angles. The minimum negative peak pressure coefficient of 5.8 is recorded at a 45° wind angle. Validation of the obtained numerical results shows the promising potential of the LES as a design tool in wind engineering, providing higher resolution of the quantities of interest.