Space Structures 2 (1986/87) 49-54

Wind Pressure Distribution on a Multiple

Hyperbolic Paraboloid Shell Roof Building

A. J. Dutt
National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, Singapore 0511

(Received 29 April 1986;accepted 23 May 1986)

Abstract: Wind pressure distribution was investigated on a multiple hyperbolic

paraboloid (HP) shell roof building by model test in the wind tunnel. The roof ofthe
model was a grouping of four similar HP shells in a 'normal' array forming a square
in plan. Wind tunnel experiments were carried out; wind pressure distribution and
the contours of wind pressure on shell roof and walls were determined for various
wind directions. The average suctions on roof were computed and compared with
those on a single HP shell roof and on a multiple HP shell roof having a 'sawtooth'
array. The highest point suction encountered was -4·12q whilst the maximum
average suction on the roof was -0·61q.

NOTATION completely from the surface at a sharp edge. In

general, the location of separation depends on the
C, Pressure coefficient shape and size of the body, and the orientation and
L Linear dimension fixing the scale velocity of the wind, but for bodies with sharp edges
p Pressure on the surface of an object the separation line is fixed along the edges.
p, Static pressure For the past two decades hyperbolic paraboloid
p; Wind pressure (HP) shell roof structures have been widely used as
q Velocity pressure !pv 2 they are aesthetically pleasing and also because they
v Wind velocity can cover a large area with a minimum of supports.
() Angle of wind direction Because of the complex shape of these structures, it
J.L Viscosity of air is extremely difficult to analyse the wind pressure
p Air density distribution theoretically. Therefore it was con-
sidered essential to investigate a multiple HP shell
1. INTRODUCTION roof structure in the wind tunnel.
Extensive investigations on the wind load and
The assessment of loads that can be exerted by wind stress distribution on braced barrel vaults have been
on space structures is of extreme importance but in performed by Makowski and Wong. I Wind pressure
most cases the available data are incomplete. distributions on certain HP shell roofs have been
Virtually all building shapes are classified as sharp- investigated by Dutt,2,3 and Savory, Toy and Fox 4 ,5
edged bodies. The distinguishing property is the have carried out wind tunnel tests on domes and
wake of separated flow surrounding the rear part of barrel vaults. Experiments on models of short and
the body. The flow approaching the structure is medium span structures have been carried out by
deflected by the front-facing surfaces but separates Melbourne," Stathopolous 7 and Dutt," and pressure
49
Space Structures 0266-3511/86/$03'50 ©Elsevier Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1986. Printed in Great Britain
50
distribution on pyramidal roof structure has been
investigated by Dutt. ~ However, there is no available
information on the wind load distribution on
multiple HP shell roof buildings. The research work
described in this paper provides some results in this
field.
2. THEORY
When an airstream blows against an object, the
pressure, p . at any point on its surface may be
regarded as consisting of two parts-the static
pressure, p; which in a natural wind is the baro-
metric pressure, and the excess, p - p ; caused by the
presence of the object. This excess arises solely from
motion of the air with reference to the model. This
will be called the wind pressure and will be denoted
by p s, If there is no wind or no object present, then
p = p, and the wind pressure is zero. The wind
pressure may be positive, negative or zero. That is,
p . which by definition is equal to p; + p-: may be
greater than, less than, or equal to p ; From dimen-
sional reasoning it is shown that p; is given by an
expression of the form
p;
-=1 ,(VLP)
- =(
. rise of the shell was 31 mm. The ratio of the rise to
q 'f..I.. r span was 1: 10. The walls of the model consisted of
The expression applies only to geometrically similar
bodies. The wind pressure, p : can be measured in
any convenient units, but there are advantages in
using the wind velocity pressure as the unit. For
bodies with sharp corners C, is practically indepen-
dent of the wind speed and the size of the model.
That is, f( V Lp I f.L) is constant for any pressure point,
so that a single value of C p for any given shape of
body of ,}:1y size at any wind speed can be computed
with the aid of a table of velocity pressures. The
ratio C, is a pure number independent of the units
used, so long as the pressures are all measured in the
same units. In the presentation of data for the dis-
tribution of wind pressure over the exterior surface
of the structure it is commonly assumed that the
interior is at a constant pressure equal to static
pressure p, that is, p" is zero for the interior.
3. DESCRIPTION OF MODEL
The roof of the model (Fig. 1) was a grouping of four
similar hyperbolic paraboloid shells forming a square
in plan. The length of each side of the square was
458 mm. Each individual unit of the shell was also
square in plan and the length of each side of the square
A.1. DUll
Fig.t. Model of multiple HP shell roof building of 'normal' array
in wind tunnel.
was 229 mm. The low corners of the shells were
situated above the centres of the sides of the square
and the high corners were situated above the corners
of the square and above the centre of the square (plan
of the group). The heights of the high corners of the
shell were 138 mm and those of the low corners were
75 mm above the base of the model. The diagonal
span of each individual shell unit was 325 mm and the
6 mm thick plywood. Firstly the four outer walls with
their top surfaces incorporating the slope of the edge
beams of the shells were set out, glued and nailed to
one another in the form of a box. The two inner walls
with their top surfaces incorporating the slope of the
edge beams were then glued and nailed to the outer
walls at their mid points. Then the roof was con-
veniently constructed using thin obeche veneer strips
since a certain amount of twist was required in each
strip. The veneer strips were glued and nailed to the
sloping top surfaces of the walls. The strips were laid
in two layers, one layer along each diagonal. The
outer edge beams consisted of timber strips, 39 mm
wide x 6 mm thick, which projected over the roof
and were glued and nailed along the outer edge of
the shell-group. The inner common edge beams
between adjacent shells consisted of thick timber
strips 12·7 mm wide x 6·35 mm. The roof was
treated with Polyfilla for filling all the gaps, allowed
to dry and then sand-papered. Finally two coats of
polish were applied on the model.
4. GENERAL PROCEDURE
Of the 129 pressure stations that were prepared on
the model, 39 were located on the diagonals and 42
Wind pressure on a multiple H P shell roof building
Fig. 2. Isometric view of multiple HP shell roof building model. All dimensions are in millirnetres.
were located on the walls of the model; 48 stations
were located on the shell roof on the portion
ABCOEl (Fig. 2). Because of the symmetry of the
model all pressure stations were located on half of
the model and the complete distribution of pressure
of each wind direction was obtained by rotation of
the model through appropriate angles.
The pressure points were connected to a multiple
manometer by means of PVC tubes passing through
the interior of the model. The model rested on and
was attached to a circular turntable as shown in Fig.
1, which also shows the mounting of the model in the
open jet wind tunnel of the University of Liverpool.
The working section of the tunnel was 1·54 m
(horizontal) x 1·06 m (vertical). The surface of the
turntable was 150 mm above the top of the tunnel
floor at the outlet. The upstream edge of the table
was feathered to a knife edge.
The model was first set with the line AlE joining
the high corners A, land E parallel to the wind
direction, an azimuth designated as 0°. A maximum
of 35 stations were connected at one time to 35 tubes
of the multitube manometer. A uniform velocity
field of 12 mls was used. A complete set of obser-
vations were made for wind directions of 0° and 45°.
Experiments carried out at different wind speeds
showed that the value of C, remained constant for
any particular pressure point.
5. RESULTS
From the manometer readings, the values of pw and
C, were calculated. By using the values of C p for the
51
pressure points, pressure distribution diagrams were
drawn for the diagonals and walls of the model
(Figs 3 and 4). Wind pressure contour diagrams were
drawn for the multiple shell roofs for 0° and 45° wind
(Figs 5 and 6). The average values of C p were
computed by a process of graphical integration, and
the results of this computation are shown in Table 1.
The wind load on the roof may be obtained by
multiplying the average value of C p by the area of the
roof and by the velocity pressure q. The maximum
point suction encountered was -4·12 q for 0° wind.
6. DISCUSSION
Some interesting features of the pressure distri-
bution are as follows: When () = 0° (Fig. 3), i.e.
when the wind blew parallel to the diagonal joining
the high corners A, land E, a point suction of
-4·12 q occurred very close the windward corner of
the roof immediately after the edge beam. This
suction fell very sharply down to positive pressure
along the diagonal AlE, a maximum pressure of
0·37 q being encountered near the high corner J.
Then again suction occurred, maximum suction
being -0·71 q which changed to positive pressure at
about the midpoint of lE. On the upstream high
corner, a suction of - 3·0 q and on the downstream
high corner a point suction of -0·60 q were found.
Along the diagonal GlC joining the high corners G,
land C a maximum suction of - 1·12 q was encoun-
tered. On the diagonal BO joining the low corners B
and 0, maximum suction found was -1·12 q near
the midpoint of BO. The whole of the diagonal BO
52 A. J. Dutt

4·12

3·0

'·61

'60

_ _ _ 112

'48~
~0.28

B
097 C

070

.:
·62

8 D

Fig. 3. Wind pressure distribution on multiple HP shell roof building: (J = 0°.

08~
~"
032
G A

E F[1o.21 C
28 -
M62
D
o 1
SCALE OF Cp

'u
B D

Fig. 4. Wind pressure distribution on multiple HP shell roof building: (J = 45".

Wind pressure on a multiple H P shell roof building 53

G Table 1. Average values of Cp on

roof for different wind directions

Wind direction, 0 (deg .)

o -0·52
45 - 0·61

CL which was under suction. The leeward wall

CDEML was fully under suction.
f
It is interesting to note that a greater part of the
diagonal Al was under positive pressure. The
average suction on the roof as a whole was - 0·52 q.
When () = 45° (Fig. 4) , i.e. when wind blew
normal to the wall ABCLK . the maximum suction
encountered on the diagonal AlE was -0·92 q. The
maximum suction on diagonal BD was -0·96 q while
that on diagonal DF was - 0·62 q. The highest
c pressure encountered on the windward wall was
- 1·07 q. The average suction on the roof was
Fig. 5. Wind pressure contours; 8 = 0°. -0·61 q.

G 7. COMPARISON WITH SINGLE SHELL ROOF

AND MULTIPLE SHELL ROOF IN SAWTOOTH
ARRAY

When comparison was made with a single hyperbolic

paraboloid shell roof building (Fig. 7). a maximum
point suction of only -2·32 q was found on the
windward high corner of the model .' with wind
blowing parallel to the high corner diagonal. Thus.
there was a significant increase of point suction on
A

c
Fig. 6. Wind pressure contours; 8 = 45°.

was under suction. The greatest suction on diagonal

BH was - 1-48 q and the greatest pressure was
0·28 q , which was at the midpoint ofBH.
A very small amount of suction, -0·09 q , was
found on the diagonal DF which joined the low
corners D and F. On the windward walls a pressure
of 0·97 q was found close to the corner K. The
greater part of the windward wall ABCLK was under
pressure except for a smaller part close to the corner Fig. 7. Model of single HP shell roof building in wind tunnel.
54
Fig. 8. Model of multiple HP shell roof building of 'sawtooth'
array in wind tunnel.
the windward high corner due to the grouping of four
shells together. There was a significant increase of
highest point suction on the low corner diagonal HB,
this point suction being -1-48 q whilst it was only
-0·98 q in the case of the single shell. It is of
importance to note that the average suction on the
roof as a whole was -0'52 q whilst it was only
-0· 26 q in the case of the single shell roof. That is,
the average suction was doubled due to the presence
of four shells. For the single shell with wind normal
to the wall, the average suction on the roof was
-0·82 q, compared with -0·61 q for the multiple
shell roof.
When a comparison was made with a multiple
shell roof in a 'sawtooth' array (Fig. 8), the highest
point suction of -5 q was encountered close to the
windward high corner with airflow parallel to the
diagonal. 3 The highest average suction was -0·68 q,
compared with -0·61 q in the present case.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The experiment described showed the distribution of
wind pressure on the model of a multiple hyperbolic
A.1. Dutt
paraboloid shell roof building in normal array. The
highest average suction on the roof, -0'61 q,
occurred when the wind was at 4SO, i.e. when the
wind blew normal to the side wall. The shell roofs
should therefore be designed to withstand this
suction of -0·61 q. The highest point suction en-
countered was -4·12 q. The effect of localised high
suctions near the eaves and on areas adjacent to the
edge beams and parapets should be taken into
account when roof coverings are detailed because
they may blow off by intensive suction if not
adequately fixed. The pressure coefficients deter-
mined from this investigation could be incorporated
in the relevant Code of Practice for wind loading and
could be used for design purposes.
REFERENCES
I. MAKOWSKI, Z. S. and WONG, C. W., Stress analysis of
braced barrel vaults subjected to wind loading. Proceedings
of the Sino-American Symposium on Bridge and Structural
Engineering, Beijing, 1982, pp. 3.13.1-13.13.23.
2. DUlT, A. J., Wind pressure distribution on hyperbolic
paraboloid shell roofs, Civil Engineering and PW Review,
Lomax Erskine and Co. Ltd, London, 1971, pp. 61-71.
3. DUlT, A. J., Wind loading on a multiple hyperbolic
paraboloid shell roof structure. In: Third International
Conference on Space Structures, ed. H. Nooshin, Elsevier
Applied Science Publishers, London, 1984, pp. 227~2.
4. SAVORY, E. and TOY, N., Investigation of wind loading on
domes in turbulent boundary layers. In: Third International
Conference on Space Structures, ed. H. Nooshin, Elsevier
Applied Science Publishers, London, 1984, pp. 277~2.
5. TOY, N. and FOX, T. A., Wind induced loading of barrel
vault structures. In: Third International Conference on Space
Structures, ed. H. Nooshin , Elsevier Applied Science
Publishers, London, 1984, pp. 271--6.
6. MELBOURNE, W. H., Turbulence effects on maximum
surface pressures-A mechanism. In: Fifth International
Conference on Wind Engineering, July 1979, ed. J. E.
Cermak, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1979, pp. 541-51.
7. STATHOPOLOUS, T., Internal pressure characteristics of
low-rise buildings due to wind action. In: Fifth International
Conference on Wind Engineering, July 1979, ed. J. E.
Cermak, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1979, pp. 451--63.
8. DUlT, A. J., Simplification of the dynamic characteristics of
the wind loadings on a low-rise structure, J. Wind
Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 13 (1983),
301-302.
9. DUlT, A. J., Wind loading on a pyramidal roof structure,
Int. J. Space Structure, 1 (1985),105-110.