• Wind and Structures
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2015

Wind tunnel testing of a low-rise building with openings (holes) of different sizes and shapes on a roof corner is conducted to measure the internal and external pressures from the building model. Detailed analysis of the testing data is carried out to investigate the characteristics of the internal and external pressures of the building with different openings' configurations. Superimposition of the internal and external pressures makes the emergence of positive net pressures on the roof. The internal pressures demonstrate an overall uniform distribution. The probability density function (PDF) of the internal pressures is close to the Gaussian distribution. Compared with the PDF of the external pressures, the non-Gaussian characteristics of the net pressures weakened. The internal pressures exhibit strong correlation in frequency domain. There appear two humps in the spectra of the internal pressures, which correspond to the Helmholtz frequency and vortex shedding frequency, respectively. But, the peak for the vortex shedding frequency is offset for the net pressures. Furthermore, the internal pressure characteristics indirectly reflect that the length of the front edge enhances the development of the conical vortices.The objective of this study aims to further understanding of the characteristics of internal, external and net pressures for low-rise buildings in an effort to reduce wind damages to residential buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2020

Net pressures on roofs and walls of buildings are dependent on the internal and external pressure fluctuations. The variation of internal and external pressures are influenced by the size and location of the openings. The correlation of external and internal pressure influences the net pressures acting on cladding on different parts of the roof and walls. The peak internal and peak external pressures do not occur simultaneously, therefore, a reduction can be applied to the peak internal and external pressures to obtain a peak net pressure for cladding design. A 1:200 scale wind tunnel model study was conducted to determine the correlations of external and internal pressures and effective reduction to net pressures (i.e., net pressure factors, F_C) for roof and wall cladding. The results show that external and internal pressures on the windward roof and wall edges are well correlated. The largest ${\mathcal{C}}_{{\check{p},net}$, highest correlation coefficient and the highest F_C are obtained for different wind directions within 90° ≤ θ ≤ 135°, where the large openings are on the windward wall. The study also gives net pressure factors F_C for areas on the roof and wall cladding for nominally sealed buildings and the buildings with a large windward wall opening. These factors indicate that a 5% to 10% reduction to the action combination factor, K_C specified in AS/NZS 1170.2(2011) is possible for some critical design scenarios.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2021

This paper describes a wind tunnel test on a 1:25 scale model of TTU building with several adjustable openings in order to comprehensively study the characteristics of fluctuating internal pressures, especially the phenomenon of the increase in fluctuating internal pressures induced by tangential flow over building openings and the mechanism causing that. The effects of several factors, such as wind angle, turbulence intensity, opening location, opening size, opening shape and background porosity on the fluctuating internal pressures at oblique wind angles are also described. It has been found that there is a large increase in the fluctuating internal pressures at certain oblique wind angles (typically around 60° to 80°). These fluctuations are greater than those produced by the flow normal to the opening when the turbulence intensity is low. It is demonstrated that the internal pressure resonances induced by the external pressure fluctuations emanating from flapping shear layers on the sidewall downstream of the windward corner are responsible for the increase in the fluctuating internal pressures. Furthermore, the test results show that apart from the opening shape, all the other factors influence the fluctuating internal pressures and the internal pressure resonances at oblique wind angles to varying degrees.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.361-376
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• 2008

This paper considers internal pressure fluctuations for a range of building volumes and dominant wall opening areas. The study recognizes that the air flow in and out of the dominant opening in the envelope generates Helmholtz resonance, which can amplify the internal pressure fluctuations compared to the external pressure, at the opening. Numerical methods were used to estimate fluctuating standard deviation and peak (i.e. design) internal pressures from full-scale measured external pressures. The ratios of standard deviation and peak internal pressures to the external pressures at a dominant windward wall opening of area, AW are presented in terms of the non-dimensional opening size to volume parameter, $S^*=(a_s/\bar{U}_h)^2(A_W^{3/2}/V_{Ie})$ where $a_s$ is the speed of sound, $\bar{U}_h$ is the mean wind speed at the top of the building and $V_{Ie}$ is the effective internal volume. The standard deviation of internal pressure exceeds the external pressures at the opening, for $S^*$ greater than about 0.75, showing increasing amplification with increasing $S^*$. The peak internal pressure can be expected to exceed the peak external pressure at the opening by 10% to 50%, for $S^*$ greater than about 5. A dominant leeward wall opening also produces similar fluctuating internal pressure characteristics.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.163-177
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• 2018

Tornadoes are one of the world's deadliest natural phenomena. They are characterized by short life span and danger. It has been observed through post-damage surveys that localities with large numbers of buildings suffer major damage during a tornado attack resulting in huge loss of life and property. Thus,it is important to study interfering buildings exposed to tornado-like vortices. The present study focuses on external and internal pressures developed on building models exposed to translating tornado-like vortices in the presence of an interfering building model. The effects of translating speed and swirl ratio of a tornado-like vortex on external and internal pressures for a principal building in the vicinity of an interfering building are investigated. Results indicate that external and internal pressures are enhanced or reduced depending on the location of the interfering building with respect to the principal building.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.117-136
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• 2013

A field study of wind-induced internal pressures in a flexible and porous industrial warehouse with a single dominant opening, of various sizes for a range of moderate wind speeds and directions, is reported in this paper. Comparatively weak resonance of internal pressure for oblique windward opening situations, and hardly discernible at other wind directions, is attributed to the inherent leakage and flexibility in the envelope of the building in addition to the moderate wind speeds encountered during the tests. The measured internal pressures agree well with the theoretical predictions obtained by numerically simulating the analytical model of internal pressure for a porous and flexible building with a dominant opening. Ratios of the RMS and peak internal to opening external pressures obtained in the study are presented in a non-dimensional format along with other published full scale measurements and compared with the non-dimensional design equation proposed in recent literature.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2009

This study analyzes how the perceived pressures and organizational readiness of fashion companies (that utilize the internet as a marketing or commercial transaction tool) influence the continuous internet adaptation intention. It ascertains the differences between the companies that have introduced the internet commercial transaction and companies that have not. The survey was conducted among the employees of fashion companies from January $15^{th}$ to February $20^{th}$ in 2009. A total of 314 respondents were submitted for analysis using diverse methods that include frequency analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, and multiple regression analysis. The results show that the perceived internal and external pressures, the support of the chief executive officer and capacity of the organization influence the continuous internet adaptation intention of fashion companies. There are differences in the perceived internal and external pressures, support of the chief executive officer, capacity of the organization, and continuous internet adaptation intention between companies that introduced a internet commercial transaction system and those that have not.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2019

The non-linear equations governing wind-induced internal pressures for a two-compartment building with background leakage are linearized based on some reasonable assumptions. The explicit admittance functions for both building compartments are derived, and the equivalent damping coefficients of the coupling internal pressure system are iteratively obtained. The RMS values of the internal pressure coefficients calculated from the non-linear equations and linearized equations are compared. Results indicate that the linearized equations generally have good calculation precision when the porosity ratio is less than 20%. Parameters are analyzed on the explicit admittance functions. Results show that the peaks of the internal pressure in the compartment without an external opening (Compartment 2) are higher than that in the compartment with an external opening (Compartment 1) at lower Helmholtz frequency. By contrast, the resonance peak of the internal pressure in compartment 2 is lower than that in compartment 1 at higher Helmholtz frequencies.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2010

Appropriate scaling methods for wind tunnel modelling of building internal pressures induced through a dominant opening were investigated. In particular, model cavity volume distortion and geometric scaling of the opening details were studied. It was found that while model volume distortion may be used to scale down buildings for wind tunnel studies on internal pressure, the implementation of the added volume must be done with care so as not to create two cavity resonance systems. Incorrect scaling of opening details was also found to generate incorrect internal pressure characteristics. Furthermore, the effective air slug or jet was found to be longer when the opening was near a floor or sidewall as evidenced by somewhat lower Helmholtz frequencies. It is also shown that tangential flow excitation of Helmholtz resonance for off-centre openings in normal flow is also possible.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2013

A dominant opening in a windward wall, which generates large internal pressures in a building, is a critical structural design criterion. The internal pressure fluctuations are a function of the dominant opening area size, internal volume size and external pressure at the opening. In addition, many buildings have background leakage, which can attenuate internal pressure fluctuations. This study examines internal pressure in buildings for a range of dominant opening areas, internal volume sizes and background porosities. The effects of background porosity are incorporated into the governing equation. The ratio of the background leakage area $A_L$ to dominant opening area $A_W$ is presented in a non-dimensional format through a parameter, ${\phi}_6-A_L/A_W$. Background porosity was found to attenuate the internal pressure fluctuations when ${\phi}_6$ is larger than 0.2. The dominant opening discharge coefficient, ${\kappa}$ was estimated to lie between 0.05 to 0.40 and the effective background porosity discharge coefficient ${\kappa}^{\prime}_L$, was estimated to be between 0.05 to 0.50.