• Wind and Structures
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.17-41
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• 2016

To address the uncertainty of the flight trajectories caused by the turbulence and gustiness of the wind field over the roof and in the wake of a building, a 3-D probabilistic trajectory model of flat-type wind-borne debris is developed in this study. The core of this methodology is a 6 degree-of-freedom deterministic model, derived from the governing equations of motion of the debris, and a Monte Carlo simulation engine used to account for the uncertainty resulting from vertical and lateral gust wind velocity components. The influence of several parameters, including initial wind speed, time step, gust sampling frequency, number of Monte Carlo simulations, and the extreme gust factor, on the accuracy of the proposed model is examined. For the purpose of validation and calibration, the simulated results from the 3-D probabilistic trajectory model are compared against the available wind tunnel test data. Results show that the maximum relative error between the simulated and wind tunnel test results of the average longitudinal position is about 20%, implying that the probabilistic model provides a reliable and effective means to predict the 3-D flight of the plate-type wind-borne debris.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제5권2_3_4호
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• pp.337-346
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• 2002

Wind tunnel pressure measurements and numerical simulations based on the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) are compared with full and model scale data in the flow area of impingement, separation and wake for $60^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$ wind azimuth angles. The phase averaged fluctuating pressures simulated by the RSM model are combined with modelling of the small scale, random pressure field to produce the total, instantaneous pressures. Time averaged, rsm and peak pressure coefficients are consequently calculated. This numerical approach predicts slightly better the pressure field on the roof of the TTU (Texas Tech University) building when compared to the wind tunnel experimental results. However, it shows a deviation from both experimental data sets in the impingement and wake regions. The limitations of the RSM model in resolving the intermittent flow field associated with the corner vortex formation are discussed. Also, correlations between the largest roof suctions and the corner vortex "switching phenomena" are observed. It is inferred that the intermittency and short duration of this vortex switching might be related to both the wind tunnel and numerical simulation under-prediction of the peak roof suctions for oblique wind directions.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제18권1호
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• pp.83-101
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• 2014

Lamps installed on stay cables of cable-stayed bridges may alter the configuration of circular cross section of the cables and therefore result in aerodynamically unstable cable vibrations. The background of this study is a preliminary design of lamp installation on the cable-stayed He-dong Bridge in Guangzhou, China. Force measurements and dynamic response measurements wind tunnel tests were carried out to validate the possibility of cable galloping vibrations. It is observed that galloping will occur and the critical wind velocity is far less than the design wind velocity at Guangzhou City stipulated in Chinese Code. Numerical simulations utilizing software ANSYS CFX were subsequently performed and almost the same results as the wind tunnel tests were obtained. Moreover, the pressure and velocity contours around cable-lamp model obtained from numerical simulations indicated that the upstream steel wire in the preliminary design is the key factor for the onset of the galloping vibrations. A modification for the preliminary design of lamp installation, which suggests to remove the two parallel steel wires, is proposed, and it effectiveness is validated in further wind tunnel tests.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.595-613
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• 2016

Large amplitude oscillation of steepled main cables usually presents during construction of a long-span bridge. To study this phenomenon, six typical main cables with different cross sections during construction are investigated. Two main foci have been conducted. Firstly, aerodynamic coefficients of a main cable are obtained and compared through simulation and wind tunnel test: (1) to ensure the simulation accuracy, influences of the numerical model's grid size, and the jaggy edges of main cable's cross section on main cable's aerodynamic coefficients are investigated; (2) aerodynamic coefficients of main cables at different wind attack angles are obtained based on the wind tunnel test in which the experimental model is made by rigid plastic using the 3D Printing Technology; (3) then numerical results are compared with wind tunnel test results, and they are in good agreement. Secondly, aerodynamic coefficients of the six main cables at different wind attack angles are obtained through numerical simulation. Then Den Hartog criterion is used to analyze the transverse galloping of main cables during construction. Results show all the six main cables may undergo galloping, which may be an important reason for the large amplitude oscillation of steepled main cables during construction. The flow structures around the main cables indicate that the characteristic of the airflow trajectory over a steepled main cable may play an important role in the galloping generation. Engineers should take some effective measures to control this harmful phenomenon due to the big possibility of the onset of galloping during the construction period.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.425-442
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• 2015

This paper discusses the processing of the wind loads measured in wind tunnel tests by means of multi-channel pressure scanners, in order to compute the response of 3D structures to atmospheric turbulence in the time domain. Data compression and the resulting computational savings are still a challenge in industrial contexts due to the multiple trial configurations during the construction stages. The advantage and robustness of the bi-orthogonal decomposition (BOD) is demonstrated through an example, a sail glass of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, independently from any tentative physical interpretation of the spatio-temporal decomposition terms. We show however that the energy criterion for the BOD has to be more rigorous than commonly admitted. We find a level of 99.95 % to be necessary in order to recover the extreme values of the loads. Moreover, frequency limitations of wind tunnel experiments are sometimes encountered in passing from the scaled model to the full scale structure. These can be alleviated using a spectral extension of the temporal function terms of the BOD.

• 한국가시화정보학회지
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• 제17권2호
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• pp.32-38
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• 2019

A comparison study between computational-fluid-dynamics simulation and wind tunnel test for a megawatt-class wind turbine is conducted. For the study, flow-field in wake, basic aerodynamic performance, and effect of the yaw error for a 1/86 scaled-down model of the NREL offshore 5 MW wind turbine are numerically calculated using commercial software "FloEFD" with $k-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model. The computed results are compared to the wind tunnel test performed by the constant-velocity mode for the model. It is shown that discrepancy are found between the two results at lower tip-speed ratio and higher yaw angle, however, the velocity-defection distribution in the wake, the torque coefficient at moderated and high tip-speed ratios are in good agreement with the wind tunnel test.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.15-33
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• 2014

This paper describes partial turbulence simulation and validation of the aerodynamic pressures on building models for an open-jet small-scale 12-Fan Wall of Wind (WOW) facility against their counterparts in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. The wind characteristics pertained to the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) mean wind speed profile and turbulent fluctuations simulated in the facility. Both in the wind tunnel and the small-scale 12-Fan WOW these wind characteristics were produced by using spires and roughness elements. It is emphasized in the paper that proper spectral density parameterization is required to simulate turbulent fluctuations correctly. Partial turbulence considering only high frequency part of the turbulent fluctuations spectrum was simulated in the small-scale 12-Fan WOW. For the validation of aerodynamic pressures a series of tests were conducted in both wind tunnel and the small-scale 12-fan WOW facilities on low-rise buildings including two gable roof and two hip roof buildings with two different slopes. Testing was performed to investigate the mean and peak pressure coefficients at various locations on the roofs including near the corners, edges, ridge and hip lines. The pressure coefficients comparisons showed that open-jet testing facility flows with partial simulations of ABL spectrum are capable of inducing pressures on low-rise buildings that reasonably agree with their boundary-layer wind tunnel counterparts.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.55-67
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• 2020

Wind tunnel test is one of the most important means to study the flutter performance of bridges, but there are blockage effects in flutter test due to the size limitation of the wind tunnel. On the other hand, the size of computational domain can be defined by users in the numerical simulation. This paper presents a study on blockage effects of a simplified box girder by computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, the blockage effects on the aerodynamic characteristics and flutter performance of a long-span suspension bridge are studied. The results show that the aerodynamic coefficients and the absolute value of mean pressure coefficient increase with the increase of the blockage ratio. And the aerodynamic coefficients can be corrected by the mean wind speed in the plane of leading edge of model. At each angle of attack, the critical flutter wind speed decreases as the blockage ratio increases, but the difference is that bending-torsion coupled flutter and torsional flutter occur at lower and larger angles of attack respectively. Finally, the correction formula of critical wind speed at 0° angle of attack is given, which can provide reference for wind resistance design of streamlined box girders in practical engineering.

• Wind and Structures
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.339-366
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• 2020

This study aims at modeling boundary layers (BLs) encountered in sparse and built environments (i.e. open, suburban and urban) at the subsonic Wind Tunnel (WT) at Ryerson University (RU). This WT has an insignificant turbulence intensity and requires a flow-conditioning system consisting of turbulence generating elements (i.e., spires, roughness blocks, barriers) to achieve proper turbulent characteristics. This system was developed and validated in the current study in three phases. In phase I, several Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations of the tunnel with generating elements were conducted to understand the effect of each element on the flow. This led to a preliminary design of the system, in which horizontal barriers (slats) are added to the spires to introduce turbulence at higher levels of the tunnel. This design was revisited in phase II, to specify slat dimensions leading to target BLs encountered by tall buildings. It was found that rougher BLs require deeper slats and, therefore, two-layer slats (one fixed and one movable) were implemented to provide the required range of slat depth to model most BLs. This system only involves slat movement to change the BL, which is very useful for automatic wind tunnel testing of tall buildings. The system was validated in phase III by conducting experimental wind tunnel testingof the system and comparing the resulting flow field with the target BL fields considering two length scales typically used for wind tunnel testing. A very good match was obtained for all wind field characteristics which confirms accuracy of the system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제45권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2013

The typhoon wind characteristics designing for buildings or bridges located in complex terrain and typhoon prone region normally cannot be achieved by the very often few field measurement data, or by physical simulation in wind tunnel. This study proposes a numerical simulation procedure for predicting directional typhoon design wind speeds and profiles for sites over complex terrain by integrating typhoon wind field model, Monte Carlo simulation technique, CFD simulation and artificial neural networks (ANN). The site of Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong is chosen as a case study to examine the feasibility of the proposed numerical simulation procedure. Directional typhoon wind fields on the upstream of complex terrain are first generated by using typhoon wind field model together with Monte Carlo simulation method. Then, ANN for predicting directional typhoon wind field at the site are trained using representative directional typhoon wind fields for upstream and these at the site obtained from CFD simulation. Finally, based on the trained ANN model, thousands of directional typhoon wind fields for the site can be generated, and the directional design wind speeds by using extreme wind speed analysis and the directional averaged mean wind profiles can be produced for the site. The case study demonstrated that the proposed procedure is feasible and applicable, and that the effects of complex terrain on design typhoon wind speeds and wind profiles are significant.