Investigations on the wind force and flow of a scaffolding system

A scaffolding system model at one side of the exterior surfaces of a square building was set in the wind tunnel to measure the wind forces on the system in various oncoming-flow directions. The scaffolding system with additional clad sheets at three porosity ratios was tested to examine its wind load effect. Moreover, numerical computations were performed to examine the wind flow in the region between the building surface and the impermeable clad sheet. Results show that a decrease of screen porosity generally promotes varies wind force with the oncoming-flow direction variation. As the scaffolding system is at the windward side of the building, a maximum total push-in force occurs. When the system is parallel to the oncoming-flow direction, the total pull-out force becomes maximum. The cross-sectional maximum and minimum net pressure values mostly occur near the edge or the corner of the scaffolding system. Among all oncoming-flow directions, finally, cross-sectional large wind speeds usually occur at the upstream upper corner in the scaffolding system. The most critical situation that endangers the safety of construction workers due to the occurrence of local gust wind can happen when the oncoming-flow direction angle is within the range of 60 to 90 degrees.