• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.413-424
• /
• 2009

A series of wind tunnel free-decay sectional model dynamic tests were conducted to examine the effects of torsional-to-vertical natural frequency ratio of 2DOF bridge dynamic systems on the aerodynamic and dynamic properties of bridge decks. The natural frequency ratios tested were around 2.2:1 and 1.2:1 respectively, with the fundamental vertical natural frequency of the system held constant for all the tests. Three 2.9 m long twin-deck bridge sectional models, with a zero, 16% (intermediate gap) and 35% (large gap) gap-to-width ratio, respectively, were tested to determine whether the effects of frequency ratio are dependent on bridge deck cross-section shapes. The results of wind tunnel tests suggest that for the model with a zero gap-width, a model to approximate a thin flat plate, the flutter derivatives, and consequently the aerodynamic forces, are relatively independent of the torsional-to-vertical frequency ratio for a relatively large range of reduced wind velocities, while for the models with an intermediate gap-width (around 16%) and a large gap-width (around 35%), some of the flutter derivatives, and therefore the aerodynamic forces, are evidently dependent on the frequency ratio for most of the tested reduced velocities. A comparison of the modal damping ratios also suggests that the torsional damping ratio is much more sensitive to the frequency ratio, especially for the two models with nonzero gap (16% and 35% gap-width). The test results clearly show that the effects of the frequency ratio on the flutter derivatives and the aerodynamic forces were dependent on the aerodynamic cross-section shape of the bridge deck.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.145-169
• /
• 2017

The auxiliary structures of a high-rise building, such as balconies, ribs, and grids, are usually much smaller than the whole building; therefore, it is difficult to simulate them on a scaled model during wind tunnel tests, and they are often ignored. However, they may have notable effects on the local or overall wind loads of the building. In the present study, a series of wind pressure wind tunnel tests and high-frequency force balance (HFFB) wind tunnel tests were conducted on rigid models of an actual super high-rise building with vertical ribs protruding from its facades. The effects of the depth and spacing of vertical ribs on the mean values, fluctuating values and the most unfavorable values of the local wind pressure coefficients were investigated by analyzing the distribution of wind pressure coefficients on the facades and the variations of the wind pressure coefficients at the cross section at 2/3 of the building height versus wind direction angle. In addition, the effects of the depth and spacing of vertical ribs on the mean values, fluctuating values and power spectra of the overall aerodynamic force coefficients were studied by analyzing the aerodynamic base moment coefficients. The results show that vertical ribs significantly decrease the most unfavorable suction coefficients in the corner recession regions and edge regions of facades and increase the mean and fluctuating along-wind overall aerodynamic forces.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.505-517
• /
• 2009

Synchronous wind-induced pressures, measured in wind-tunnel tests on model buildings instrumented with hundreds of pressure taps, are an invaluable resource for designing safe buildings efficiently. They enable a much more detailed, accurate representation of the forces and moments that drive engineering design than conventional tables and graphs do. However, the very large volumes of data that such tests typically generate pose a challenge to their widespread use in practice. This paper explains how a wavelet representation for the time series of pressure measurements acquired at each tap can be used to compress the data drastically while preserving those features that are most influential for design, and also how it enables incremental data transmission, adaptable to the accuracy needs of each particular application. The loss incurred in such compression is tunable and known. Compression rates as high as 90% induce distortions that are statistically indistinguishable from the intrinsic variability of wind-tunnel testing, which we gauge based on an unusually large collection of replicated tests done under the same wind-tunnel conditions.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2007.04a
• /
• pp.739-744
• /
• 2007

Wind loads for cladding can be estimated using the maximum wind pressure including gust effects from wind-tunnel tests. However, when estimating the maximum wind pressure with gust effects, wind pressure coefficients for cladding would be different according to the averaging time of wind pressures, In the paper, for wind pressures obtained from wind-tunnel tests for apartment buildings, whose window panes were damaged by actual strong wind, it was investigated how pressure coefficients varied according to the size of cladding and averaging time using TVL method of Lawson. In result, it was found that the lesser the size of cladding and averaging time were, the larger pressure coefficients became. Accordingly, to estimate wind loads for cladding of apartment buildings and design it, the averaging time of wind pressures should be considered properly.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.137-156
• /
• 2013

A wind tunnel test of a scaled-down model and field measurement were effective methods for elucidating the aerodynamic behavior of a chimney under a wind load. Therefore, the relationship between the results of the wind tunnel test and the field measurement had to be determined. Accordingly, the set-up and testing method in the wind tunnel had to be modified from the field measurement to simulate the real behavior of a chimney under the wind flow with a larger Reynolds number. It enabled the results of the wind tunnel tests to be correlated with the field measurement. The model surface roughness and different turbulence intensity flows were added to the test. The simulated results of the wind tunnel test agreed with the full-scale measurements in the mean surface pressure distribution behavior.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.203-214
• /
• 2004

This paper describes a method for developing a multi-degree-of freedom aero-elasto-plastic model of a base-isolated mid-rise building. The horizontal stiffness of isolators is modeled by several tension springs and the vertical support is performed by air pressure from a compressor. A lead damper and a steel damper are modeled by a U-shaped lead line and an aluminum line. With this model, the frequency ratio of torsional vibration to sway vibration, and plastic displacements of isolation materials can be changed easily when needed. The results of isolation material tests and free vibration tests show that this model provides the object performance. The peak displacement factors are about 4.5 regardless of wind speed in wind tunnel tests, but their gust response factor decreases with increment of wind speed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.619-629
• /
• 2020

Solar towers, which often has a large aspect ratio and low fundamental natural frequency, were extremely prone to large amplitude of wind-induced vibrations, especially Vortex-Induced Vibration (VIV). A tiny Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) with conveniently adjustable eddy current damping was specially designed and manufactured for elastic wind tunnel tests of a solar tower. A series of numerical simulations by using the COMSOL software were conducted to determine three key parameters, including the thickness of the back iron plate and the conductive plate (T_b and T_c), the distance between the magnet and the conductive plate (T_d). Based on the results of numerical simulations, a tiny TMD was manufactured and its structural parameters were experimentally identified. The optimized values of the tiny TMD can be conveniently realized. The tiny TMD was installed at the top of the elastic test model of a 243-meter-high solar tower, and a series of wind tunnel tests were carried out to examine the effectiveness of the TMD in suppressing wind-induced responses of the test model. The results showed that the wind-induced responses could be obviously reduced by the TMD, especially in the cross-wind direction. The cross-wind RMS and peak responses at the critical wind velocity can be reduced by about 86% and 75%, respectively. However, the maximum reduction of the responses at the design wind velocity is about 45%, obviously less than that at the critical wind velocity.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.103-113
• /
• 2017

Spatial Structure has suffered from a lot of damage due to the use of lightweight roofs. Among them, the damage caused by strong winds was the greatest, and the failure of the calculation of the wind load was the most frequent cause. It provides that wind tunnel test is used to calculate the wind load. However, it is often the case that the wind load is calculated based on the standard of wind load in the development design stage. Therefore based on this, the structure type and structural system and member design are often determined. Spatial structure is usually open at a certain area. The retractable roof structure should be operated with the open roof in some cases, so the wind load for the open shape should be considered, but it is not clear on the basis of the wind load standard. In this paper, the design wind pressure of a closed and retractable roof structure is calculated by KBC2016, AIJ2004, ASCE7-10, EN2005, and the applicability of wind pressure coefficient is compared with wind tunnel test.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.6 no.1 s.19
• /
• pp.91-99
• /
• 2006

This paper presents wind pressure distribution on high-rise apartment buildings through wind-tunnel tests. In order to investigate wind-induced interference efforts on building claddings an apartment complex, which was damaged on the claddings during typhoon attack, was exampled and constructed as a scaled model. A series of wind tunnel tests using pressure models were performed in a boundary layer wind tunnel. The test results with and without interfering buildings were compared and discussed. It is observed that the wind pressure on buildings 105 and 106 with surrounding buildings shows highly negative, while the pressure without surrounding buildings were positive. Therefore the wind-induced interference effects should be taken into account in the design of claddings through wind-tunnel tests.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.261-273
• /
• 2020

This paper deals with the design, wind tunnel testing, and performance analysis of small wind turbines targeting low-power applications. Three different small-size blade designs in terms of size, shape, and twisting angle are considered and tested. We conduct wind tunnel tests while measuring the angular speed of the rotating blades, the generated voltage, and the current under varying resistive loading and air flow conditions. An electromechanical model is also used to predict the measured voltage and power and verify their consistency and repeatability. The measurements are found in qualitative agreement with those reported in previously-published experimental works. We present a novel methodology to estimate the mechanical torque applied to the wind turbine without the deployment of a torque measuring device. This method can be used to determine the power coefficient at a given air speed, which constitutes an important performance indicator of wind turbines. The wind tunnel tests revealed the capability of the developed wind turbines to deliver more than 1225 mW when subject to an air flow with a speed of 7 m/s. The power coefficient is found ranging between 26% and 32%. This demonstrates the aerodynamic capability of the designed blades to extract power from the wind.