Wind pressures on low-rise hip roof buildings

Seven hip roof building models for 10o, 15o, 20o, 25o, 30o, 35o and 40o roof pitch with large overhangs of 1.1 m were tested in a wind tunnel at the university of Roorkee, India to investigate wind pressure distributions over hip roofs for various roof pitch and wind direction. The results show that the roof pitch and wind direction do significantly affect the magnitude and distribution of the roof pressures. The 40o roof pitch has been found to experience the highest peak suctions at the roof corners amongst the seven hip roofs tested. Pressures on 15o, 20o and 30o hip roofs are comparable with those reported by Xu and Reardon (1998). Meecham et al. (1991) for 18.4o hip roof is compatible with 15o hip roof of the present study. Holmes