Pressure effects due to wind interference between mid-rise and high-rise buildings

Wind loads on cladding of buildings are likely to be influenced by the presence of nearby tall buildings. The influence of neighbouring buildings on global wind loads has been researched extensively in the 80’s and 90’s. Studies by Taniike (1991) and Khanduri (1997) concluded that the influence of interfering buildings with similar or larger heights than the reference building could lead to an increase in global wind loads of 70-80%, but judged the influence of smaller buildings on the global loads insignificant. Studies on the influence of a high-rise building on surrounding buildings mention a factor two to three increase in local peak loads [Stathopoulos (1984), Surry and Malais (1982)]. Recently Kim et al. (2011) studied the influence of a mid-rise building on the local loads experienced by the facades of a high-rise building; they found an increase in minimum peak suc-tion of approximately 15%. From a wind tunnel measurement on a 165 m high tower in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, a characteristic value for the peak suction of -5255 N/m2 was calculated at tap (1) at a wind angle of 210º (Geurts et al, 2006). This value is over a factor three higher than the value found when applying the Dutch Code (NEN 6702, 2001) at this height (105 m full scale). Figure 1(b) illustrates that the building 22 m upstream is likely to have an influence on this extreme peak pressure. This paper aims at understanding the wind effects of a mid-rise building on the pressure distribution of a nearby high-rise building.