Pressure Field Correlation for Buildings with Hyperbolic Paraboloid Roofs: Results of Wind-Tunnel Tests

Investigation of the Pressure Coefficients Correlation Field for Low-Rise Building Roofs

“…As shown recently by two of the current authors [42], the average pressure coefficients for this kind of structure generally decrease significantly when the influence area of the structural element increases, as a consequence of the decreasing correlation between local actions at points far away from each other, according to the indications reported in technical codes [39,40] for ordinary geometries. For complex geometries such as those under examination, the variations of the correlation functions for the central and perimetral parts of the roof are larger, as already seen.…”

“…The situation at the central part of the roof (e.g., pressure taps Cb, Cc, Cd, Dc) was very different, because the flow confined by the upward curvature across the wind was for most of the roof attached along the downward curvature in the direction of the wind, with consequent high correlation (correlation index > 0.7) for portions of the roof up to about one third of its transverse and longitudinal dimensions. This circumstance can be of considerable importance in the characterization of average pressures or suctions to be considered in the design and verification of the main load-bearing elements of this type of structure, affected by the wind-induced loads on extended portions of the roof [42].…”

“…Cable instability may occur under strong upward action because the cable tension in the upward cables decreases until the cable becomes unstable. Several studies have discussed the structural performances of this kind of roof [23][24][25][26][27][28], and specific parametric studies [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] given by two of the authors have contributed to the Italian standard [39] that provides pressure coefficients for HPR with square [37], rectangular [37], circular, and elliptical plan shapes [38].…”