• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.61-80
• /
• 2002

Wind tunnel aeroelastic model tests of the Commonwealth Advisory Aeronautical Research Council (CAARC) standard tall building were conducted using a three-degree-of-freedom base hinged aeroelastic(BHA) model. Experimental investigation into the effects of coupled translational-torsional motion, cross-wind/torsional frequency ratio and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness on the wind-induced response characteristics and wind excitation mechanisms was carried out. The wind tunnel test results highlight the significant effects of coupled translational-torsional motion, and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness, on both the normalised along-wind and cross-wind acceleration responses for reduced wind velocities ranging from 4 to 20. Coupled translational-torsional motion and eccentricity between centre of mass and centre of stiffness also have significant impacts on the amplitude-dependent effect caused by the vortex resonant process, and the transfer of vibrational energy between the along-wind and cross-wind directions. These resulted in either an increase or decrease of each response component, in particular at reduced wind velocities close to a critical value of 10. In addition, the contribution of vibrational energy from the torsional motion to the cross-wind response of the building model can be greatly amplified by the effect of resonance between the vortex shedding frequency and the torsional natural frequency of the building model.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.43-57
• /
• 1998

A three-degree-of-freedom base hinged assembly (BHA) for aeroelastic model tests of tall building was developed. The integral parts of a BHA, which consists of two perpendicular plane frames and a flexural pivot, enable this modeling technique to independently simulate building translational and torsional degree-of-freedom. A program of wind tunnel aeroelastic model tests of the CAARC standard tall building was conducted with emphasis on the effect of (a) torsional motion, (b) cross-wind/torsional frequency ratio and (c) the presence of an eccentricity between center of mass and center of stiffness on wind-induced response characteristics. The experimental results highlight the significant effect of coupled translational-torsional motion and the effect of eccentricity between center of mass and center of stiffness on the resultant rms acceleration responses in both along-wind and cross-wind directions especially at operating reduced wind velocities close to a critical value of 10. In addition, it was sound that the vortex shedding process remains the main excitation mechanism in cross-wind direction even in case of tall buildings with coupled translational-torsional motion and with eccentricity.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.397-413
• /
• 2018

Excitation mechanism of interference effect between two tall buildings is investigated with wind tunnel experiments. Synchronized building surface pressure and flow field measurements by particle image velocimetry (PIV) are conducted to explore the relationship between the disturbed wind flow field and the consequent wind load modification for twin buildings in tandem. This reveals evident excitation mechanisms for the fluctuating across-wind loads on the buildings. For small distance (X/D < 3) between two buildings, the disturbed flow pattern of impaired vortex shedding is observed and the fluctuating across-wind load on the downstream building decreases. For larger distance ($X/D{\geq}3$), strong correlation between the across-wind load of the downstream building and the oscillation of the wake of the upstream building is found. By further analysis with conditional sampling and phase-averaged techniques, the coherent flow structures in the building gap are clearly observed and the wake oscillation of the upstream building is confirmed to be the reason of the magnified across-wind force on the downstream building. For efficient PIV measurement, the experiments use a square-section high-rise building model with geometry scale smaller than the usual value. Interference factors for all three components of wind loads on the building models being surrounded by another identical building with various configurations are measured and compared with those from previous studies made at large geometry scale. The results support that for interference effect between buildings with sharp corners, the length scale effect plays a minor role provided that the minimum Reynolds number requirement is met.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.71-88
• /
• 2004

In this paper the capacity of Covariance Proper Transformation (CPT) analyses to provide information about the wind loading mechanisms of bluff bodies is investigated through the application to square cylinders. CPT is applied to the fluctuating pressure distributions on a single cylinder, as well as on a pair of cylinders in the tandem and side by side arrangements, with different separations. Both smooth and turbulent flow conditions are considered. First, through the analysis of the contributions of each CPT mode to the total fluctuating aerodynamic forces, a correspondence between modes and aerodynamic components is sought, which is then verified through examination of the mode shapes. When a correspondence between modes and aerodynamic components is found, an attempt is made to separate the different frequency contributions to the aerodynamic forces, provided by each mode. From the analyses it emerges that (a) in most cases each mode is associated to one single force component, that (b) retaining a limited number of modes allows reproducing the aerodynamic forces with a rather good accuracy, and that (c) each mode is mainly associated with one frequency of excitation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.6 s.123
• /
• pp.498-506
• /
• 2007

Using wind tunnel, experimental approaches were employed to investigate fluidelastic instability of tube bundles, subjected to uniform cross flow. There are several flow-induced vibration excitation mechanisms, such as fluidelastic instability, periodic wake shedding resonance, turbulence-induced excitation and acoustic resonance, which could cause excessive vibration in shell-and tube heat exchanges. Fluidelastic is the most important vibration excitation mechanism for heat exchanger tube bundles subjected to cross flow. The system comprised of cantilevered flexible cylinder(s) and rigid cylinders of normal square array, In order to see the characteristics of flow in tube bundles, particle image velocimetry was used. From a practical design point of view, Fluidelastic instability may be expressed simply in terms of dimensionless flow velocity and dimensionless mass-damping. The threshold flow velocity for dynamic instability of cylinder rows is evaluated and the data for design guideline is proposed for the tube bundles of normal square array.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.157-169
• /
• 2016

The structural integrity of tube bundles represents a major concern when dealing with high risk industries, such as nuclear steam generators, where the rupture of a tube or tubes will lead to the undesired mixing of the primary and secondary fluids. Flow-induced vibration is one of the major concerns that could compromise the structural integrity. The vibration is caused by fluid flow excitation. While there are several excitation mechanisms that could contribute to these vibrations, fluidelastic instability is generally regarded as the most severe. When this mechanism prevails, it could cause serious damage to tube arrays in a very short period of time. The tubes are therefore stiffened by means of supports to avoid these vibrations. To accommodate the thermal expansion of the tube, as well as to facilitate the installation of these tube bundles, clearances are allowed between the tubes and their supports. Progressive tube wear and chemical cleaning gradually increases the clearances between the tubes and their supports, which can lead to more frequent and severe tube/support impact and rubbing. These increased impacts can lead to tube damage due to fatigue and/or wear at the support locations. This paper presents simulations of a loosely supported multi-span U-bend tube subjected to turbulence and fluidelastic instability forces. The mathematical model for the loosely-supported tubes and the fluidelastic instability model is presented. The model is then utilized to simulate the nonlinear response of a U-bend tube with flat bar supports subjected to cross-flow. The effect of the support clearance as well as the support offset are investigated. Special attention is given to the tube/support interaction parameters that affect wear, such as impact and normal work rate.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.1-22
• /
• 2006

The response characteristics and suppression of flow-induced vibrations of rectangular prisms with various width-to-depth ratios were experimentally investigated. The prisms were rigid and elastically mounted at both ends to enable constrained torsional vibrations only. The present study focused on torsional vibrations, one of the three types of flow-induced vibrations generated in a rectangular prism. First, the response characteristics of torsional vibrations generated in rectangular prisms were investigated by free-vibration tests. It was found that the response characteristics of torsional vibrations generated in rectangular prisms could be classified into six patterns depending on the width-to-depth ratio. Next, the response characteristics of torsional vibrations observed in the free-vibration tests were reproduced by forced-vibration tests, and the mechanisms by which the three types of flow-induced vibrations, low-speed torsional flutter, vortex excitation and high-speed torsional flutter, are generated in the rectangular prisms were elucidated on the basis of characteristics of fluid forces and visualized flow patterns. Experiments were also carried out to establish an effective method for suppressing flow-induced vibrations generated in the rectangular prisms, and it was found that low-speed torsional flutter and high-speed torsional flutter could be suppressed by placing a small normal plate upstream of the prism, which results in suppression of the alternating rolling-up of the shear layers separating from the leading edges of the prism. It was also found that vortex excitation could be suppressed by placing a splitter plate downstream of the prism, which results in suppression of the generation of wake vortices.