NUMERICAL SIMULATION ON AERO-DYNAMICAL EFFECTS OF HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS IMPACTED BY TORNADOES

A tornado is a large scale swirling flow and is of extreme destructive power. It is one of the most critical targets of wind resistance and disaster reduction projects. Previous studies mostly focused on tornadoes attacking low-rise buildings and steel transmission towers, etc., and paid little attention to the flow characteristics and aero-dynamical responses of high-rise buildings in urban environment when attacked by tornadoes. This study conducted large-eddy simulations on tornado wind field and its interaction with building models in scales of laboratory simulator. The results were validated with experimental values, obtaining some wind load characteristics and flow mechanisms in laboratory scales. Subsequently, full-scale high-rise buildings with typical cross-section shapes attacked by a full-scale F2 tornado were simulated based on the validated methods and models. The flow field characteristics and aerodynamic load response characteristics in full-scale cases were evaluated. The flow field differences and aerodynamic load generation mechanism for full-scale tornado impacting different scales and shapes of high-rise buildings were obtained.