Wind loading and structural response

Lecture 16 Dr. J.D. Holmes

Internal pressures
 Internal pressures
• Wind pressure on a wall cladding or roof is always :
external wind pressure - internal pressure

• wind will affect internal pressure magnitude, except for fully sealed
buildings

• Fully-sealed buildings : assume internal pressure is atmospheric pressure

(po)
• Wind-induced internal pressures significant for dominant openings - e.g.
produced by flying debris
 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall Single Dominant Opening

• air flow into building  increase in density of air within the volume

• external pressure changes produced by wind - typically 1% of absolute air pressure

• internal pressure responds quickly to external flow and pressure changes

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

pi  p0
• Dimensional analysis : C pi (t)   F(π1 , π 2 , π 3 , π 4 , π 5 )
1
ρa U 2
2
1 = A3/2/Vo - where A is the area of the opening, and Vo is the internal volume

p0
π2  - where po is atmospheric (static) pressure
1
ρa U 2
2 (related to Mach Number)
3 = aUA1/2/ - where  is the dynamic viscosity of air (Reynolds Number)
u
π4  (turbulence intensity)
U

5 = lu/A - where lu is the length scale of turbulence

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• Helmholtz resonator model :

le
Air ‘slug’

Air ‘slug’ moves in and out of building in response to external pressures

Mixing of moving air is ignored

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• Helmholtz resonator model :

damping - energy losses through
opening

ρa A γp o A 2
ρ a Al e x  2 x x  x  A Δp e (t )
2k Vo

inertial term (mass

times acceleration) for stiffness - resistance of internal
air slug pressure to movement of slug

A = area of opening, Vo = internal volume

a = (external) air density, po = (external) air pressure
 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• ‘Stiffness’ term :

Assume adiabatic law for internal pressure and density

γ
pi  a constant. ρi  = ratio of specific heats(1.4 for air)

dpi γ -1
 a constant. γρ i
dρ i
pi γ -1 γp i γp i ρ a Ax γp o Ax
p i  γ
γρ i ρ i  Δρ i  
ρi ρi ρ i Vo Vo
Since i  a , pi  po
γp o A x 2
Resisting force = pi.A 
Vo
 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• ‘Damping’ term :

From steady flow through a sharp-edged orifice :

1 1 ρa
p i  2 ρ a U o U o  2 x x
k 2 2k

k = discharge coefficient
π
Theoretically k =
π  2
• Inertial term : Δp(t ).A  ρa Al e x

Theoretically le = πA/4 (circular opening)

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• Converting to pressure coefficients :

2
ρ a l e Vo   ρ a Vo U   
C pi    C pi C pi  C pi  C pe
γp o A  2k Ap 0 

Second-order differential equation for Cpi(t)

1 γAp o
Undamped natural frequency (Helmholtz frequency) : n H 
2π ρa l e Vo

Increase internal volume Vo : decrease resonant frequency, increase damping

Increase opening area A : increase resonant frequency, decrease damping

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• Helmholtz resonant frequency :

Effect of building flexibility :

1 γAp o
nH 
2π ρa l e Vo [1  (K A /K B )]

KA = bulk modulus of air = pressure change for unit change in volume

= (a p)/, equal to  po

KB = bulk modulus for the building

For low-rise buildings, KA/ KB = 0.2 to 5

(for Texas Tech field building, KA/ KB= 1.5)
 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

• Helmholtz resonant frequency :

Type Internal Opening Area Stiffness Helmholtz

Volume (m2) ratio Frequency
(m3) KA/KB (Hertz)
Texas Tech field 470 0.73 1.5 1.6
building
House 600 4 0.2 2.9
Warehouse 5000 10 0.2 1.3
concert hall 15000 15 0.2 0.8
arena (flexible roof) 50000 20 4 0.23

(measured values for Texas Tech building)

Resonant response is not high because of high damping

 Internal pressures

• Single opening on windward wall

Sudden windward opening (e.g. window failure) :

2.0 2.0

1.5 1.5
Cpi 1.0
Cpi 1.0

0.5 0.5

0 0

0 0.5 1.0 0 0.5 1.0

Time (secs) Time (secs)

Vo = 600 m3. Aw = 1m2. U = 30 m/s. Vo = 600 m3. Aw = 9m2. U = 30 m/s.

Small opening area - high damping Large opening area - low damping
- overshoot and oscillations
 Internal pressures

• Multiple openings on windward and leeward walls :


N
1
ρa Q j  0 N is number of openings

where 2 pe  pi
Q  kA (modulus allows for flow from interior to exterior)
ρa

Neglecting compressibility in this case (a = 0) :


N
1
Aj pe, j  pi  0

Can be used for mean internal pressures or peak pressures using quasi-steady
assumption. Need iterative solution when N is large.
 Internal pressures

• Multiple openings on windward and leeward walls :

Consider building with 5 openings :

Q4
pe,4
pe,5

pi Q5
pe,3 Q3
Q1 Q2

pe,1 pe,2

A1 pe,1  pi  A2 pe, 2  pi  A3 pe,3  pi  A4 pe, 4  pi  A5 pe,5  pi

outflows
inflows
 Internal pressures

• Single windward opening and single leeward opening :

i.e. 2 openings :

AW p W  pi   A L pi  pL 
in terms of pressure coefficients,

A W C pW  C pi  A L C pi  C pL

re-arranging, C pW C pL
C pi  2
 2 Equation 6.16 in book
A  A 
1   L  1   W 
 AW   AL 
 Internal pressures

• Single windward opening and single leeward opening :

i.e. comparison with experimental data :

Measurements
Equation (6.16)
0.8

0.4
Cpi

0
0 2 4 AW /AL 6 8 10

-0.4

Used in codes and standards to predict peak pressures (quasi-steady principle)

 Internal pressures

• Multiple windward and leeward openings :

fluctuating internal pressures :

numerical solutions required if inertial terms are included

Neglect inertial terms, characteristic response time :

ρ a Vo UA W A L [1  (K A /K B )]
τc  C pW  C pL
γkp o (A W  A L )
2 2 3/2

Aw = combined opening area on windward wall

AL = combined opening area on leeward wall

Characteristic frequency, nc = 1/(2c)

 Internal pressures

• Multiple windward and leeward openings :

Effective standard deviation of velocity fluctuations filtered by building :

2
 
σ¢u   Su (n) 1   n  dn
2

  n c  High characteristic frequency

- most turbulence fluctuations
appear as internal pressures
1

u¢/u

0.5

Low characteristic
0
frequency - most
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10
turbulence
fluctuations do not nclu/U

appear as internal
pressures
 Internal pressures

• Porous buildings :

Treated in same way as multiple windward and leeward openings :

Aw = average wall porosity  total windward wall area

AL = average wall porosity  total areas of leeward and side walls

 End of Lecture 16

John Holmes
225-405-3789 JHolmes@lsu.edu