Session: 05-01-02 Applied CFD

Paper Number: 87027

87027 - CFD Simulation of Hurricane Force Wind and Its Impacts on Residential Buildings 

Ever since the landfall of hurricane Laura and Delta during the 2020 hurricane season that cost the Southwest Louisiana Area (SWLA) $19 billion and $2.9 billion in damage cost respectively, the need to use computational fluid dynamics to study reduce damage costs is more alarming. In this research, common residential building designs will be put under different levels of hurricane size winds and barometric pressure conditions from different directions through CFD simulations. The effect of the roof shape, size, and placement on the pressure, shear stress, and eddies acting on the roof will be studied since they are the major causes of roof damage on a building during a hurricane. The objective of this this research is to identify the areas of a building’s roof most vulnerable to damage during a hurricane to ensure reinforcements to prevent future damage. Higher category hurricanes are more likely to cause roof damage due to the direct impact force as well as the shear due to turbulent eddies. The direct impact force is obvious major cause of all kind of damages including the structure damage, while the shear is believed to be one of the major cuases for tearing of shingles on the roof leading to water damages inside the building. In the CFD simulation, the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) turbulence model will be used to show the formation of eddies on the roof of the building.

Presenting Author: Ghalib Siaka McNeese State University