Residential 3D Model Wind Tunnel Pressure Testing

High wind events occur every year throughout the county including tornado alley, the coastal regions and the high elevation valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Less substantial but still damaging winds are even more prevalent throughout the county. Millions of dollars of damages result and subsequent insurance claims are filed by property owners. Damages range from catastrophic collapses to minor roofing damage and disputes regarding the extent of damage regularly ensue. This research focuses on uplift forces generated on common residential roof configurations and testing and analysis was performed in a wind tunnel and via computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software. 3D printing has simplified and reduced the cost of conducting wind tunnel testing using models of residential structures as allowed in ASCE 7. The experimental testing performed was completed in a wind tunnel with 1:120 scale model houses. Each roof was fitted with 48 pressure taps which allowed researchers to note the pressures at specific locations and to calculate the overall lift coefficients for each roof type. Analytical and experimental testing was conducted on various roof structures including residences with gable, gambrel, mansard, hipped, and shed-style roofs. During the tests, the exposure orientation of the residential models to the wind direction was altered in order to find the wind direction which yielded the highest lift coefficient. A comparison of the test results to the wind pressures calculated in ASCE-7-10 was conducted and schematics provided as to the relative uplift pressures at each region of the roofs.