Wind induced response of corner modified 'U' plan shaped tall building

Abstract

In the present study, the well-adopted practice of minor aerodynamic modifications (chamfered corner and rounded corner) has been introduced on widely used irregular U plan shaped tall building to minimize the wind induced responses and also to give a good aesthetics. The necessary design inputs for a wind resistance design such as force coefficient and pressure coefficients have been well explored and illustrated graphically to provide a complete guideline to the designer. The randomness of wind directionality has a significant impact on tall structures, which is generally not detailed in existing design codes, is incorporated by considering wind directions ranging from 0° to 180° at an interval of 15°. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been utilized to simulate wind flow using two turbulence models, i.e., k-epsilon and Shear Stress Transport. The model has been validated by comparing the results of a published research article on a U-shaped building without corner modification. The grid independence study has been done to check the reliability and accuracy of the analysis results. Since such study of wind directionality on corner modified U-shaped building is not observed in the existing literature, it constitutes the uniqueness of the present study. A significant reduction in force coefficient has been achieved by implementing modification, but the faces of those updated corners mostly been attracted by excessive pressure. This indicates the necessity of proper cladding configurations. The rounded corner buildings are turning out to be more effective when compared to the chamfered corner for reducing wind load.