Evaluation of wind effects on a large span retractable roof stadium by wind tunnel experiment and numerical simulation

Retractable roof structures break traditional concepts of indoor and outdoor spaces, which can free indoor activities from weather restrictions and ambient conditions. Thus, such structures have gained great popularity. The length of retractable roof increases with the demand for more flexible and light construction, and such requirements make retractable roof structures more sensitive to wind actions. Hence, this paper presents a combined study of wind tunnel experiment and large eddy simulation (LES) for evaluation of wind effects on a large span retractable roof stadium. The effectiveness and reliability of the adopted LES techniques have been verified by detailed comparisons with the model test results. The main objective of this study is to investigate the wind effects on a large-span retractable roof structure in terms of net pressure coefficients and flow fields for different roof states. Additionally, this study attempts the LES for estimation of the wind effects on the prototype stadium with retractable roof, which can account for the Reynolds number effects and overcome the model space constraints of wind tunnel experiments. The adopted LES techniques have been proven to be an effective tool for evaluations of wind effects on buildings with complex geometries in high Reynolds number turbulent flows. This paper aims at further understanding the wind effects on retractable roof structures and providing useful information for the wind-resistant design of large-span retractable roof stadiums.