A wind tunnel study of the pressure distribution around sealed versus open low-rise buildings for naturally ventilated livestock housing.

A 1: 20 scale model of a low-rise naturally ventilated building was tested in a wind tunnel. External pressure coefficients were determined for an open model with various combinations of ridge, sidewall and end wall openings, as well as for a sealed model. The pressure distribution is influenced by all structural modifications at various wind angles. The differences between the open and sealed models were pronounced especially at the ridge and the leeward sidewall. In general, the more opening areas a building has, the larger is the discrepancy in pressure determined for the open versus sealed model.