Laboratory study of wind loads on a low-rise building in a downburst using a moving pulsed jet simulator and their comparison with other types of simulators.

Abstract Downburst produces strong winds near the ground and causes severe damage to buildings and people. The non-stationarity of downburst is characterized by moving downdraft and pulsed jet to the ground. In practice, both characteristics have often been observed simultaneously. These characteristics significantly affect the wind loads on buildings, particularly on low-rise buildings. However, the previous experimental studies of downbursts focused on each of these characteristics separately. No study has been made of their coupled effect. Therefore, we have developed a downburst simulator, which can generate a pulsed jet and a moving downdraft either separately or simultaneously. In the present paper, we have experimentally investigated the effects of non-stationary characteristics of downbursts on the wind field and wind loads on a flat-roofed low-rise building using this downburst simulator. The results may become a useful database for validating numerical simulation models of downbursts. Highlights • Effects of movement and impinging jet on the flow field of downburst is investigated. • Non-stationary flow fields of moving and pulsed jet are experimentally reproduced. • Downburst-induced pressure on a building is measured with a downburst simulator. • Downburst-induced wind forces are different from those by turbulent boundary layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]