Comparative Study of Wind Loads on Low-Rise Pitched and Circular Arch Roof Structures Based on CFD

Abstract

This study compares the effect of wind load acting on a pitched roof and a circular arch roof of similar plan area of a storage building having one wall opening through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. CFD studies have been performed by many researchers to understand the flow behavior and find out coefficient of pressure on faces of regular building shapes having other types of roofs. However, no comparative study has been carried out for pitched and circular arch roofs building. Ansys (CFX) fluid flow software has been used to carry out the study using a standard k–ε turbulence model. The simulations have been carried out for −90° to 0° (clockwise) and +90° to 0° (anticlockwise) wind directions at an interval of 30°. Pressure, drag, and lift coefficients generated on the roofs were compared. It was found that, although variation in these coefficients w.r.t the wind incidence angles are similar for both the roofs types, coefficients of the sharp-edged pitched roof are higher in magnitudes than the smooth arch roof.