The effect of wind on Tall Buildings - Tall Buildings: Structural Systems and Aerodynamic Form - page 154

treated as a dynamic load. Boundary-layer wind tunnel tests can be used to accurately
determine the dynamic response of tall buildings to wind loading and excitation.
In general, it is common to conduct wind tunnel tests for tall buildings having high
aspect ratios. The boundary layer wind tunnel differs from aeronautical wind tunnels
in that it models the inherent turbulence in the wind as well as the variation of
wind speed with height above the ground surface, both of which must be modelled
correctly in order to accurately predict the pressures and forces on buildings.
The sizes of the building and of the wind tunnel determine the scale of the model.
In structural design, the wind load is determined by the results obtained from wind
tunnel tests. In studies done to determine aerodynamic forces formed as a result of the
interaction of the wind with tall buildings, the models used in wind tunnel tests are
most commonly on scales of 1:300 and 1:500. Some recent examples are Chen et al.,
2006 (1:500 scale Taipei 101 model) ( Figure 5.4 ) and Weismantle et al., 2007 (1:500
scale Burj Khalifa model) ( Figure 5.5 ). A guide to wind tunnel testing of high-rise
buildings has recently been published by the CTBUH wind engineering working
group which gives a more complete overview of the wind tunnel testing procedure
(Irwin et al., 2013).
Figure 5.4 Taipei 101, wind tunnel test model (1:500 scale)
(credit for photo: RWDI)