aerodyamics in buildings

[windeffects]

HI
I've decided on a science faair project that has to do with the effects of the structure of a building and how it holds up against the wind. I've searched on google and yahoo, but all that im getting is airplane aerodynamics and car/nascar aerodynamics.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot,
Brent Gray

[shijun]

Aerodynamics definitely applies here as well. Think about what happens when you hold up a long stick horizontally vs. vertically again strong wind. Which ones "pushes" against your arm more? *Hint* Think about drag and the force of the wind acting upon the stick (in both orientations).

To help you get started: think about the parameters of the height, width, depth of the building and the direction of the gust.

Shijun
Science Buddies Staff

[pgrage]

Sorry to hear you were having trouble finding data related to aerodynamics of land-based structures. There has been a considerable
amount of research done in this area over the past 40 years, most of it publishing under structural engineering auspices. The forces of wind loading in structures is one of the principle design challenges in very tall buildings. Engineers measure the dead load (static forces on the building that do not change) and the live load (dynamic forces such as wind, snow, equipment loads) at every building connection point. As you might imagine, it's fairly simple to calculate the weight of steel and concrete, but far more difficult to calculate the resultant forces due to wind. Focus your efforts on structural wind loads, and you will be going in the right direction.

Patrick Grage
Mechanical Engineer

[billchapman]

As Patrick points out, the effects of wind on buildings are dynamic, complex and interesting! In doing your web searches, try a few diffferent phrases like "wind engineering" or "skyscraper aerodynamics". For inspiration, here are a couple of sites with some remarkable photos and some limited discussion of architecture addressing aerodynamics:

http://moma.org/exhibitions/2004/tallbu ... dex_f.html
http://www.glasgowarchitecture.co.uk/glasgow_tower.htm

Good luck!

-Bill