Experiments to study turbulence and flow past a low-rise building at oblique incidence

It is now well-known that high suction pressures develop along the leading edges of the building due to the formation of corner vortices when the wind is incident at oblique angles. These high suction pressures can damage the roof surface, which may even result in total failure. This paper gives the results from experiments carried out on 1:100 scale models of the Texas Tech University Test Building in a wind tunnel under different flow conditions. Both sharp-edged models and round-edged models were used to conduct flow and turbulence experiments. The results from flow visualization experiments reveal that there exists a separation and recirculation region on roof top at normal incidence and corner vortices form at oblique incidence with different magnitudes of rounding of roof edges influencing the turbulence levels and flow differently. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.