Interference effects on wind loads on low-rise hip roof buildings

The Natural wind in the wind tunnel was simulated at the University of Roorkee (India) on the basis of full/model-scale comparison. For this, the Texas Tech University (TTU) building model was fabricated on a geometric scale of 1:50 and tested in the simulated wind for comparison of the pressures with full-scale values. A hip roof building model (geometric scale 1:50) of plan dimensions 280 mm×140 mm×58 mm (eave height) with 30° roof slope was selected as the test building (T.B.) so as to examine interference with a similar building as well as three similar buildings placed on the upstream side at fifteen different locations (Fig. 2). A quadrant portion of the model roof was divided into ten different zones to see the effect of interference at critical roof positions. Significant effects have been observed.