Numerical Analysis of Spoilers and Chamfered Corners for Mitigating Wind Loads on Low-Rise Flat Roof Buildings

Abstract

Leveraging the SST k-ω turbulence model, this study analyzes the effects of implementing wind-resistance measures, such as spoilers and chamfered corners, on the wind load distribution and wind field bypass characteristics on the surface of low-rise flat roof buildings under wind directions of 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45°. The findings indicate that spoilers can effectively mitigate the wind pressure on the roof, achieving optimal pressure reduction when the spoiler height (h) ranges from 0.3 to 0.4 and the spoiler width (b) varies between 0.6 and 0.7, regardless of the wind direction. Furthermore, chamfering the flat roof decreases the absolute value of the roof wind pressure coefficient as the chamfering radius increases, with a radius of 1.0 m providing the most effective local wind resistance, Cpmean is reduced by about 61.8%, 57.5%, 61%, and 46% compared to the original flat roof, Cpmin is reduced by about 41.8%, 56.3%, 44.9%, 44.6% compared to the original flat roof.. However, incorporating a spoiler on a chamfered flat roof building only marginally reduces the absolute value of the roof wind pressure coefficient, setting not recommended. For instance, at a 0° wind angle, both the buildings with and without spoilers and the chamfered flat roof buildings with chamfer radii of 0.0 m and 0.5 m generate relatively small vortices on the windward sides. These are followed by two more noticeable return vortices on the leeward side, with the scale of these vortices increasing as the spoiler angle and chamfer radius increase.

Keywords

• flow field characteristics
• low-rise flat roof building
• numerical simulation
• spoiler
• wind load