• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.84-90
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• 2016

In this study, a six degree-of-freedom motion analysis of a wind-wave hybrid platform equipped with numerous wave energy converters (WECs) was carried out. To examine the effect of the WECs on the platform, an analysis of one-way coupling was carried out, which only considered the power take-off (PTO) damping of the static WECs on the platform. The equation of motion of a floating platform with mooring lines in the time domain was established, and the responses of the one-way coupled platform were then compared with the case of a platform without any coupling effects from the WECs. The hydrodynamic coefficients and wave exciting forces were obtained from the 3D diffraction/radiation pre-processor code WAMIT based on the boundary element method. Then, an analysis of the dynamic responses of the floating platform with or without the WEC effect in the time domain was carried out. All of the dynamics of a floating platform with multiple wind turbines were obtained by coupling FAST and CHARM3D in the time domain, which was further extended to include additional coupled dynamics for multiple turbines. The analysis showed that the PTO damping effect on platform motions was negligible, but coupled effects between multiple WECs and the platform may differentiate the heave, roll, and pitch platform motions from the one without any effects induced by WECs.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.597-616
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• 2020

The blockage effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of tall buildings is a fundamental issue in wind tunnel test but has rarely been addressed. To evaluate the blockage effects on the aerodynamic forces on a square tall building and flow field peripherally, large eddy simulations (LES) were performed on a 3D square cylinder with an aspect ratio of 6:1 under the uniform smooth inflow and turbulent atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) inflow generated by the narrowband synthesis random flow generator (NSRFG). First, a basic case at a blockage ratio (BR) of 0.8% was conducted to validate the adopted numerical methodology. Subsequently, simulations were systematically performed at 6 different BRs. The simulation results were compared in detail to illustrate the differences induced by the blockage, and the mechanism of the blockage effects under turbulent inflow was emphatically analysed. The results reveal that the pressure coefficients, the aerodynamic forces, and the Strouhal number increase monotonically with BRs. Additionally, the increase of BR leads to more coherence of the turbulent structures and the higher intensity of the vortices in the vicinity of the building. Moreover, the blockage effects on the aerodynamic forces and flow field are more significant under smooth inflow than those under turbulent inflow.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2020

A butterfly web girder is a box-shaped girder with discretely distributed side openings along the spanwise direction. Until now, there have been few studies related to the aerodynamic performance of the butterfly web bridge. The objective of the current study was to clarify the effects of the side openings on the aerodynamic performance of the girder. Two butterfly web girders with side ratios B/D = 3.24 and 5, where B is the girder width and D is the depth, were examined through a series of wind tunnel tests. A comparison of the results for butterfly web girders and conventional box girders of the same shape confirmed that the side openings stabilized the vortex-induced vibration and galloping when B/D = 3.24, whereas the vortex-induced vibration and torsional flutter were stabilized when B/D = 5. The change in the flow field due to the side openings contributed to the stabilization against the vibration. These findings not only confirmed the good aerodynamic performance of the butterfly web bridge but also provided a new method to stabilize the box girder against aerodynamic instabilities via discretely distributed side openings.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2020

The wind responses of twin buildings are determined by the characteristics of wind loads and the dynamic characteristics of the structural systems of the buildings. In this study, the characteristics of wind pressure that influence wind responses were identified for two different spacings between the twin buildings using a wind tunnel test and the proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method. Structural dynamic characteristics were also identified using 3D structural system modeling. The double modal transformation method was utilized to evaluate the characteristics of wind pressure for across-wind and along-wind conditions and the effect of the dynamic characteristics of each structure on the wind responses. The channeling and vortex effects were identified through the POD method. Across-wind loads were significantly affected by the spacings between the twin buildings, whereas along-wind loads were minimally affected. Similarly, while using the double modal transformation method, a significant difference was noticed in case of the cross-participation coefficients in the across-wind direction condition for the different spacings between the buildings; however, the along-wind direction condition showed negligible difference. Therefore, the spacing between the two buildings plays a more important role in across-wind responses compared to along-wind responses.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.209-223
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• 2019

The assessment of wind-induced vibration for tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings requires the accurate estimation of their dynamic properties, e.g., the fundamental vibration periods and damping ratios. In this study, RC frame-shear wall systems designed under gravity and wind loadings have been evaluated by utilising 3D FE modelling incorporating eigen-analysis to obtain the elastic periods of vibration. The conducted parameters consist of the number of storeys, the plan aspect ratio (AR) of buildings, the core dimensions, the space efficiency (SE), and the leasing depth (LD) between the internal central core and outer frames. This analysis provides a reliable basis for further investigating the effects of these parameters and establishing new formulas for predicting the fundamental vibration periods by using regression analyses on the obtained results. The proposed constrained numerically based formula for vibration periods of tall RC frame-shear wall office buildings in terms of the height of buildings reasonably agrees with some cited formulas for vibration period from design codes and standards. However, the same proposed formula has a high discrepancy with other cited formulas from the rest of design codes and standards. Also, the proposed formula agrees well with some cited experimentally based formulas.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.167-186
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• 2011

This paper presents the results of measurements relating to the aerodynamic forces on flat square plates which were allowed to rotate at different speeds about their horizontal axis, by modifying the velocity of the incoming flow. A 1 m square test-sheet and a 0.3 m square test-sheet were fitted with a number of pressure sensors in order to obtain information relating to the instantaneous pressure distribution acting on the test-sheet; a compact gyroscope to record the angular velocity during the rotational motion was also implemented. Previous work on autorotation has illustrated that the angular velocity varies with respect to the torque induced by the wind, the thickness and aspect ratio of the test-sheet, any frictional effects present at the bearings, and the vorticity generated through the interaction between the plate and the wind flow. The current paper sets out a method based on the solution of the equation of motion of a rotating plate which enables the determination of angular velocities on autorotating elements to be predicted. This approach is then used in conjunction with the experimental data in order to evaluate the damping introduced by the frictional effects at the bearings during steady autorotation.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.719-737
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• 2015

Full scale measurement on the structural dynamic characteristics and Vortex-induced Vibrations (VIV) of a long-span suspension bridge with a central span of 1650 m were conducted. Different Finite Element (FE) modeling principles for the separated twin-box girder were compared and evaluated with the field vibration test results, and the double-spine model was determined to be the best simulation model, but certain modification still needs to be made which will affect the basic modeling parameters and the dynamic response prediction values of corresponding wind tunnel tests. Based on the FE modal analysis results, small-scaled and large-scaled sectional model tests were both carried out to investigate the VIV responses, and probable Reynolds Number effects or scale effect on VIV responses were presented. Based on the observed VIV modes in the field measurement, the VIV results obtained from sectional model tests were converted into those of the three-dimensional (3D) full-scale bridge and subsequently compared with field measurement results. It is indicated that the large-scaled sectional model test can probably provide a reasonable and effective prediction on VIV response.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.189-208
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• 2012

Lock-in and drag amplification phenomena are studied for a flexible cantilever using a simplified fluid-structure interaction approach. Instead of solving the 3D domain, a simplified setup is devised, in which 2D flow problems are solved on a number of planes parallel to the wind direction and transversal to the structure. On such planes, the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved to estimate the fluid action at different positions of the line-like structure. The fluid flow on each plane is coupled with the structural deformation at the corresponding position, affecting the dynamic behaviour of the system. An Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach is used to take in account the deformation of the domain, and a fractional-step scheme is used to solve the fluid field. The stabilization of incompressibility and convection is achieved through orthogonal quasi-static subscales, an approach that is believed to provide a first step towards turbulence modelling. In order to model the structural problem, a special one-dimensional element for thin walled cross-section beam is implemented. The standard second-order Bossak method is used for the time integration of the structural problem.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.30-45
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• 2013

The present work focuses on the unsteady aerodynamics and aeroelastic properties of a small-medium sized wind-turbine blade operating under ideal conditions. A tapered/twisted blade representative of commercial blades used in an experiment setup at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is considered. The aerodynamic loads are computed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. For this purpose, FLUENT$^{(R)}$, a commercial finite-volume code that solves the Navier-Stokes and the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, is used. Turbulence effects in the 2D simulations are modeled using the Wilcox k-w model for validation of the CFD approach. For the 3D aerodynamic simulations, in a first approximation, and considering that the intent is to present a methodology and workflow philosophy more than highly accurate turbulent simulations, the unsteady laminar Navier-Stokes equations were used to determine the unsteady loads acting on the blades. Five different blade pitch angles were considered and their aerodynamic performance compared. The structural dynamics of the flexible wind-turbine blade undergoing significant elastic displacements has been described by a nonlinear flap-lag-torsion slender-beam differential model. The aerodynamic quasi-steady forcing terms needed for the aeroelastic governing equations have been predicted through a strip-theory based on a simple 2D model, and the pertinent aerodynamic coefficients and the distribution over the blade span of the induced velocity derived using CFD. The resulting unsteady hub loads are achieved by a first space integration of the aeroelastic equations by applying the Galerkin's approach and by a time integration using a harmonic balance scheme. Comparison among two- and three- dimensional computations for the unsteady aerodynamic load, the flap, lag and torsional deflections, forces and moments are presented in the paper. Results, discussions and pertinent conclusions are outlined.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.255-270
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• 2019

Aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks have significant effects on the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter forsuper long-span bridges, which are onset for selection of suitable bridge decksfor those bridges. Based on a cable-stayed bridge with double main spans of 1500 m, considering typical twin-box, stiffening truss and closed-box section, which are the most commonly used form of bridge decks and assumed that the rigidity of those section is completely equivalent, are utilized to investigate the effects of aerodynamic configurations of bridge decks on aerodynamic instability performance comprised of the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter, by means of wind tunnel tests and numerical calculations, including three-dimensional (3D) multimode flutter analysis and nonlinear aerostatic analysis. Regarding the aerostatic torsional divergence, the results obtained in this study show twin-box section is the best, closed-box section the second-best, and the stiffening truss section the worst. Regarding the flutter, the flutter stability of the twin-box section is far better than that of the stiffening truss and closed-box section. Furthermore, wind-resistance design depends on the torsional divergence for the twin-box and stiffening truss section. However, there are obvious competitive relationships between the aerostatic torsional divergence and flutter for the closed-box section. Flutter occur before aerostatic instability at initial attack angle of $+3^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$, while the aerostatic torsional divergence occur before flutter at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. The twin-box section is the best in terms of both aerostatic and flutter stability among those bridge decks. Then mechanisms of aerostatic torsional divergence are revealed by tracking the cable forces synchronous with deformation of the bridge decksin the instability process. It was also found that the onset wind velocities of these bridge decks are very similar at attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. This indicatesthat a stable triangular structure made up of the cable planes, the tower, and the bridge deck greatly improves the aerostatic stability of the structure, while the aerodynamic effects associated with the aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks have little effects on the aerostatic stability at initial attack angle of $-3^{\circ}$. In addition, instability patterns of the bridge depend on both the initial attack angles and aerodynamic configurations of the bridge decks. This study is helpful in determining bridge decksfor super long-span bridges in future.