Combined Effects of Thermal Buoyancy, Wind Action, and State of the First-Floor Lobby Entrance on the Pressure Difference in a High-Rise Building

Haiwei Xu (), Lingfeng Su, Wenjuan Lou and Hongyang Shan
Additional contact information
Haiwei Xu: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Lingfeng Su: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Wenjuan Lou: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Hongyang Shan: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: The stack effect in high-rise buildings, stemming from an inside/outside temperature difference, may produce a significant pressure difference on the elevator doors, potentially causing elevator malfunctions. This effect can also be influenced by wind action and human behaviors, e.g., opening/closing of building entrances. In this study, a wind tunnel test was conducted to determine the real wind pressure distribution on a high-rise building in northern China. A numerical simulation utilizing the Conjunction of Multizone Infiltration Specialists software (COMIS) was carried out to investigate the pressure difference of elevator doors under the effects of thermal buoyancy, wind action, and opening/closing of the first-floor lobby entrance. An alternative solution of a locally strengthened envelope is proposed and validated for the studied building zone. The study reveals that the opening of the first-floor lobby entrance increases the pressure difference regardless of the environmental conditions, and the increase of wind speed tends to increase the pressure difference in winter but decrease it in summer. The proposed countermeasure combination, involving using revolving doors instead of swing doors, increasing additional partitions, and strengthening the local building envelope, was found to be synergistic and effective in reducing the pressure difference inside the building. The research findings offer practical engineering solutions for mitigating elevator door pressure challenges in high-rise buildings.

Keywords: COMIS simulation; wind tunnel test; pressure difference; high-rise building; pressure mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/9/2117/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/9/2117/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:9:p:2117-:d:1385417

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().