POD analysis of crosswind forces on a tall building with square and H-shaped cross sections

The shape of a tall building has significant impact on wind force generation and wind-induced dynamic response. To study the effect of recessed cavities, wind excitations on a wind-tunnel model of an H-section tall building were compared with those on a square-section building model. Characteristics of the fluctuating wind pressures on the side faces of the two tall buildings and their role in the generation of crosswind forces on the buildings were investigated with the space-time statistical tool of proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). This paper also compares the use of different pressure data sets for POD analysis in situations where pressures on two different surfaces are responsible for the generation of a wind force. The first POD mode is found to dominate the generation of crosswind excitation on the buildings.