Effects of building wall arrangements on wind-induced ventilation through the refuge floor of a tall building

Wind-induced natural ventilation plays an important role in the fire and smoke safety of a refuge floor. This paper reports a computational fluid dynamics study to investigate the effect of building wall arrangements on the amount of wind-induced ventilation through a refuge floor which is located at the building mid-height. The refuge floor analysed has a large service core at its centre and is surrounded by exterior building walls, which are arranged in nine configurations that represent varying degrees of opening to wind flow. Results of computed flow patterns show that the wind-induced natural ventilation rate of a refuge floor varies significantly depending on the number of enclosing external walls and the incidence wind angle. A refuge floor, having only one side open, results in the worst natural ventilation and is not recommended. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.