Wind-Induced Internal Pressures in Buildings with Large Façade Openings

The paper presents the results of a study that investigated the effects of wall porosity, inlet-to-outlet-ratio, opening location, and blockage on internal pressure in buildings with large facade openings located on opposite or adjacent walls considering data from simultaneous measurements on multiple internal pressure taps. The study found that the internal airflow field has a significant effect on mean and peak values of internal pressure, which is not uniform for configurations with wall porosity higher than 10% and openings located on adjacent walls. Peak internal pressure coefficients were found to exceed (1) the recommended ASCE 7-10 value for all configurations tested with inlets located above the midheight of the building and particularly those with inlet-to-outlet-ratios equal to 1 and (2) the recommended design value for building category 3 for configurations with openings located above the midheight of the building, leeward wall outlets, and inlet-to-outlet-ratios greater than 2.