Driving Rain and Masonry Veneer

Abstract

Wetting, in particular rain wetting, of walls with a masonry veneer is an important performance consideration for reasons of aesthetics, durability, and utility. Over the past four years, a variety of full-scale clay brick veneer wall systems have been tested in the BEGHUT field test facility. These long-term investigations of the response of wall systems to the southwestern Ontario climate have involved observation of both the exterior and interior environments as well as the performance of the brick veneer. Standard and non-standard air and rain penetration testing has been conducted. Temperature, vapor pressure, air pressures, and brickwork moisture content have been measured. The contribution of vents of various kinds and the flow characteristics (both air and water) of the region behind the screen has been studied. In the latest project, two weather stations are used to monitor the sun, wind, rain, and driving rain. There are also 14 driving rain gauges mounted on the walls of the facility. The objective of this paper is to propose a probabilistic model relating the wind, rain, and rain penetration. Driving rain, wetting, and surface drainage are discussed in some detail. Some of the more significant preliminary results of this research and its application to wall performance and rain penetration testing, especially for brick veneers, are presented and discussed.

Influence of time resolution and averaging techniques of meteorological data on the estimation of wind-driven rain load on building facades for Canadian climates

“…The WDR coefficient ranges between 0.20 and 0.25 s/m for average conditions based on measurements (Straube and Burnett, 1997). To get the WDR on an actual building, the interaction between wind and building needs to be taken into account.…”

The effects of microclimate and time resolution of meteorological data on hygrothermal analysis of wood frame building facades

“…Different correcting factors have been introduced by different models and the goal is to address the effect of these variables. These factors are mainly collateral results from multiple field measurements (Blocken & Carmeliet, 2000;Henriques, 1992;Künzel, Kießl, & Krus, 1995;Sandin, 1988;Straube & Burnett, 1998), wind tunnel tests (Inculet & Surry, 1995) and computer modelling (Blocken & Carmeliet, 2000;Choi, 1994;Karagiozis, Hadjisophocleous, & Shu, 1997).…”

“…2) Semi-empirical model by Straube and Burnett (Straube, 1998) 3) Semi-empirical model from ASHRAE 160P 2009…”

Effect of overhang on wind-driven rain wetting of facades on a mid-rise building: Field measurements

“…WDR loads are normally determined or estimated by measurements, semi-empirical correlations, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling; and each approach has its own advantages and limitations [2]. The importance of WDR has led to research efforts in the past [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. In recent years, the application of advanced numerical modelling [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and efforts in collecting high quality and high resolution measurements [21][22][23][24] have advanced our understanding of this complex phenomenon such as the effect of building size, configurations and geometrical details, local weather conditions [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], and turbulence dispersion [33][34][35][36].…”