Experimental Study on the Influence of Rising Water Levels on the Buoyancy of Building Structure

This study investigates the complete process of water level elevation’s impact on structural buoyancy under varying environmental conditions (with/without surrounding barriers) using model testing. The experiments simulated the buoyancy response patterns in sandy soil layers under different hydraulic heads. Dynamic variations of structural buoyancy over time were systematically analyzed, revealing distinct differences across the working conditions. The key findings demonstrate: (1) in the presence of the barrier effect, the growth of structure buoyancy is significantly slower than that without a barrier, but the measured value of structure buoyancy in sand is basically consistent with the theoretical value of Archimedes’ law, and the reduction coefficient is between 0.78 and 0.96; (2) the influence rate of water level rise under high water head pressure on structure buoyancy is significantly higher than that under low water head pressure. Therefore, special attention should be paid to monitoring structure buoyancy when the water level rises under high water levels.