Experimental Study of Downburst-induced Wind Loading on Buildings with Different Sizes and Heights

Abstract

The wind characteristics of downbursts are significantly different from those of turbulent boundary layers. The nonstationarity, especially caused by a severe moving downdraft and strong divergent outflow near the ground, causes serious damage to buildings. The present paper investigates the characteristics of downbursts and its effects on buildings, based on an experiment with three kinds of jets, i.e., a pulsed jet, a moving jet and a pulsed moving jet, using a moving jet simulator that we have developed. The effects of non-stationarity of downbursts on the wind pressures and forces acting on buildings with three different sizes and six different heights are discussed. Finally, an evaluation method of downburst-induced wind loads on buildings is proposed based on the experimental results.