Effects of Building Interference on a Generic Building Model

The presence of nearby buildings would alter wind flow patterns around the existing building and may lead to interference effects. In previous studies, detailed explanations on the interference effects between buildings are not well explained. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the interference effect, particularly the effect of different height ratios of the interfering building and different wind incident angles. The experiment was conducted in the UTM-LST wind tunnel where surface pressure was measured on both of the wall and the roof of the target building of a generic building model. Based on the result obtained, the interference factor, IF for the South Wall B were 0.9, 0.6, and 0.2 for interference height 0.3H, 0.6H, and H respectively. These values represent a reduction of wind load on the building façade where the highest was an 80% reduction. On the roof, the IF obtained were 1.4, 0.9, and -0.2 for interference heights of 0.3H, 0.6H, and H respectively. The suction load was increased by 40% for interference height of 0.3H and decreased by 20% and 120% for interference height of 0.6H and H.