A new parametric equation for the wind pressure coefficient for low-rise buildings

The building wind pressure coefficient (Cp) is an important quantity which is used in many fields of building engineering including heating and cooling load calculations, ventilation design, and structural design. Cp is a dimensionless quantity that represents the proportionality between the wind velocity and the pressure generated on the surface of the building. Values for Cp can be obtained from full-scale building tests, wind tunnel tests, or, more commonly, from parametric equations derived from tests. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a set of wind tunnel tests and to present a new set of surface-averaged wind pressure coefficient values for low-rise buildings and a new parametric equation determined from a curve fit to the surface-averaged data. The resulting equations are compared to another popular low-rise parametric equation and another popular wind pressure coefficient database. The new parametric equation is found to fit both databases better than the older parametric equation.

► Analyzed Tokyo database to develop a new set of surface-averaged low-rise pressure coefficients.
► Developed a new parametric wind pressure coefficient equation for low-rise buildings from a curve fit to the analyzed database.
► New equation is a rational function of wind angle and building side ratio.