Variation in wind load and flow of a low-rise building during progressive damage scenario

In coastal regions, it is common to witness significant damages on low-rise buildings caused by hurricanes and other extreme wind events. These damages start at high pressure zones or weak building components, and then cascade to other building parts. The state-of-the-art in experimental and numerical aerodynamic load evaluation is to assume buildings with intact envelopes where wind acts only on the external walls and correct for internal pressure through separate aerodynamic studies. This approach fails to explain the effect of openings on (i) the external pressure, (ii) internal partition walls; and (iii) the load sharing between internal and external walls. During extreme events, non-structural components (e.g., windows, doors or roof tiles) could fail allowing the wind flow to enter the building, which can subject the internal walls to lateral loads that potentially can exceed their load capacities. Internal walls are typically designed for lower capacities compared to external walls. In the present work, an anticipated damage development scenario is modelled for a four-story building with a stepped gable roof. LES is used to examine the change in the internal and external wind flows for different level of assumed damages (starting from an intact building up to a case with failure in most windows and doors are observed). This study demonstrates that damages in non-structural components can increase the wind risk on the structural elements due to changes in the loading patterns. It also highlights the load sharing mechanisms in low rise buildings.