CFD investigations into snow loads on tandem-arranged gabled-roofed buildings under mutual interferences

Abstract

Gable-roofed buildings arranged in tandem layouts are prevalent in various industrial factories and warehouses. However, during extreme blizzards, these snow-sensitive roof structures frequently sustain significant damages due to mutual interferences between adjacent buildings. Regrettably, the snow load calculation methods provided by various national load codes primarily depend on the studies of snowdrifts on multiple flat roofs in built-up environments, overlooking the impact of other roof shapes on the interference effects. Therefore, this study delves into the snow loads on tandem-arranged gable-roofed buildings with diverse layouts under mutual interferences. Initially, a wind tunnel test of snowdrifts on a gable roof was carried out to validate the numerical method adopted in this study. Subsequently, a series of pre-simulations were performed to identify the key parameters essential for analyzing the interference effects. On the basis, an extensive study was carried out to investigate the interference mechanisms and snowdrift characteristics on two tandem-arranged gable roofs with different layouts. Overall, the interference effect manifests solely as the redistribution of snow on downstream gable roofs, categorizable into the sheltering effect in the downwind direction and the disturbance effect in the crosswind direction. The disturbed snow load on the downstream gable roof exhibits an overall uniform distribution pattern controlled by the sheltering effect, but locally shows erosion due to the disturbance effect. Across various building layouts, the snow loads on disturbed gable roofs display a strong linear trend with the spacing. Consequently, a calculation method for snow loads on disturbed gable roofs was finally proposed, comprehensively considering the interference effects of height differences and spacings.