Wind loading on inter-tenancy walls of tall buildings

Abstract

The pressure within a building, produced by wind action, is dependent on the magnitude of external surface pressure, the size and position of all openings connecting exterior to interior of the building and the effective enclosed volume. Internal pressure fluctuations within a sealed building are generally small in magnitude and intensity in comparison with its external pressures. But when there are dominant openings (operable façades) or sudden failures across the exterior façade, the building interiors can experience wind pressures of similar magnitude to that of the exterior. Therefore, in such cases, it becomes essential to determine the realistic values of wind pressures to be used for the design of inter-tenancy walls. This paper outlines a methodology using wind tunnel pressure measurements to calculate the wind loads on the inter-tenancy walls of tall buildings (i.e. walls separating individual apartments and do not include the walls within the same apartment).