Characteristics of wind forces acting on tall buildings

Nine models with different rectangular cross-sections were tested in a wind tunnel to study the characteristics of wind forces on tall buildings. The data was briefly reported (Local wind forces acting on rectangular prisms. Proceedings of 14th National Symposium on Wind Engineering, 4-6 December 1996, Japan Association for Wind Engineering, Tokyo, pp. 263-268.). In the present paper, local wind forces on tall buildings are investigated in terms of mean and RMS force coefficients, power spectral density, and spanwise correlation and coherence. The effects of three parameters, elevation, aspect ratio, and side ratio, on bluff-body flow and thereby on the local wind forces are discussed. The overall loads and base moments are obtained by integration of local wind forces. Comparisons are made with results obtained from high-frequency force balances in two wind tunnels. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.