• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.233-259
• /
• 2017

Investigations on simulated near-surface atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in an open-jet facility are carried out by conducting experimental tests on small-scale models of low-rise buildings. The objectives of the current study are: (1) to determine the optimal location of test buildings from the exit of the open-jet facility, and (2) to investigate the scale effect on the aerodynamic pressure characteristics. Based on the results, the newly built open-jet facility is well capable of producing mean wind speed and turbulence profiles representing open-terrain conditions. The results show that the proximity of the test model to the open-jet governs the length of the separation bubble as well as the peak roof pressures. However, test models placed at a horizontal distance of 2.5H (H is height of the wind field) from the exit of the open-jet, with a width that is half the width of the wind field and a length of 1H, have consistent mean and peak pressure coefficients when compared with available results from wind tunnel testing. In addition, testing models with as large as 16% blockage ratio is feasible within the open-jet facility. This reveals the importance of open-jet facilities as a robust tool to alleviate the scale restrictions involved in physical investigations of flow pattern around civil engineering structures. The results and findings of this study are useful for putting forward recommendations and guidelines for testing protocols at open-jet facilities, eventually helping the progress of enhanced standard provisions on the design of low-rise buildings for wind.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.57 no.5
• /
• pp.951-968
• /
• 2016

Long-span cross-strait bridges extending into deep-sea waters are exposed to complex marine environments. During the construction stage, the flexible freestanding bridge towers are more vulnerable to environmental loads imposed by wind and wave loads. This paper presents an experimental investigation on the dynamic responses of a 389-m-high freestanding bridge tower model in a test facility with a wind tunnel and a wave flume. An elastic bridge model with a geometric scale of 1:150 was designed based on Froude similarity and was tested under wind-only, wave-only and wind-wave combined conditions. The dynamic responses obtained from the tests indicate that large deformation under resonant sea states could be a structural challenge. The dominant role of the wind loads and the wave loads change according to the sea states. The joint wind and wave loads have complex effects on the dynamic responses of the structure, depending on the approaching direction angle and the fluid-induced vibration mechanisms of the waves and wind.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.79-88
• /
• 2017

In this paper, the wind tunnel test for the measurement of aerodynamic characteristics of transmission conductors with asymmetric sections is described. A single conductor model and bundled conductor models with ice accreted shapes are tested both in steady and turbulent flow, and the aerodynamic coefficients are acquired. Transmission conductor galloping is a kind of wind-induced vibration which is characterized by primarily vertical oscillation with a very low frequency and a high amplitude. It is well known that transmission conductor galloping is generally caused by moderately strong, steady winds when a transmission conductor has an asymmetric cross-section shaped by accreted ice. Galloping should be considered from the design stage of overhead lines because it can cause severe wear and fatigue damage to attachments as well as transmission conductors. It is reported that there have been normally 20 events of galloping per year in Korea, which may be followed by serious consequences in the electric power system. Therefore, this research is performed to measure aerodynamic characteristics of ice accreted transmission conductors to understand and control transmission conductor galloping so that it would help to prevent unexpected failures and reduce the maintenance costs caused by galloping.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.437-450
• /
• 2022

Vortex-induced vibration (VIV) is a significant concern when designing slender structures with square cross sections. VIV strongly depends on structural dynamics and flow states, which depend on the conditions of the approaching flow and shape of a structure. Therefore, the effects of the angle of attack on the coupling effects of VIV for a square cylinder are expected to be significant in practice. In this study, the aerodynamic forces for a fixed and elastically mounted square cylinder were measured using wind pressure tests. Aerodynamic forces on the stationary cylinder are firstly discussed by comparisons of variation of statistical aerodynamic force and wind pressure coefficient with wind angle of attack. The coupling effect between the aerodynamic forces and the motion of the oscillating square cylinder by VIV is subsequently investigated in detail at typical wind angels of attack with occurrence of three typical flow regimes, i.e., leading-edge separation, separation bubble (reattachment), and attached flow. The coupling effect are illustrated by discussing the onset of VIV, characteristics of aerodynamic forces during VIV, and interaction between motion and aerodynamic forces. The results demonstrate that flow states can be classified based on final separation points or the occurrence of reattachment. These states significantly influence coupling effects of the oscillating cylinder. Vibration enhances vortex shedding, which creates strong fluctuations in aerodynamic forces. However, differences in the lock-in range, aerodynamic force, and interaction process for angles of attack smaller and larger than the critical angle of attack revealed noteworthy characteristics in the VIV of a square cylinder.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.227-237
• /
• 2017

This paper presents optimization of a long-span portal steel frame under dynamic wind loads using a surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm. Long-span portal steel frames are often used in low-rise industrial and commercial buildings. The structure needs be able to resist the wind loads, and at the same time it should be as light as possible in order to be cost-effective. In this work, numerical model of a portal steel frame is constructed using structural analysis program (SAP2000), with the web-heights at five locations of I-sections of the columns and rafters as the decision variables. In order to evaluate the performance of a given design under dynamic wind loading, the equivalent static wind load (ESWL) is obtained from a database of wind pressures measured in wind tunnel tests. A modified formulation of the problem compared to the one available in the literature is also presented, considering additional design constraints for practicality. Evolutionary algorithms (EA) are often used to solve such non-linear, black-box problems, but when each design evaluation is computationally expensive (e.g., in this case a SAP2000 simulation), the time taken for optimization using EAs becomes untenable. To overcome this challenge, we employ a surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm (SAEA) to expedite the convergence towards the optimum design. The presented SAEA uses multiple spatially distributed surrogate models to approximate the simulations more accurately in lieu of commonly used single global surrogate models. Through rigorous numerical experiments, improvements in results and time savings obtained using SAEA over EA are demonstrated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.72 no.5
• /
• pp.541-555
• /
• 2019

Wind induced dynamic responses on hyperbolic cooling tower (HCT) shells are complicated functions of structure and wind properties, such as the fundamental frequency f_min, damping ratio ζ, wind velocity V, correlationship in meridian direction and so on, but comprehensions on the sensitivities of the dynamic responses to these four factors are still limited and disagree from each other. Following the dynamic calculation in time domain, features of dynamic effects were elaborated, focusing on the background and resonant components σ_B and σ_R, and their contributions to the total rms value σ_T. The σ_R is always less than σ_B when only the maximum σ_T along latitude is concerned and the contribution of σ_R to σ_T varies with responses and locations, but the σ_R couldn't be neglected for structural design. Then, parameters of the above four factors were artificially adjusted respectively and their influences on the gust responses were illustrated. The relationships of σ_R and the former three factors were expressed by fitted equations which shows certain differences from the existing equations. Moreover, a new strategy for wind tunnel tests aiming at surface pressures and the following dynamic calculations, which demands less experiment equipment, was proposed according to the influence from meridian correlationship.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.81-90
• /
• 2022

To better understand the vortex-induced vibration (VIV) characteristics of a 5:1 rectangular cylinder, the distribution of aerodynamic force and the non-dimensional power spectral density (PSD) of fluctuating pressure on the side surface were studied in different VIV development stages, and their differences in the stationary state and vibration stages were analyzed. The spanwise and streamwise correlations of surface pressures were studied, and the flow field structure partitions on the side surface were defined based on the streamwise correlation analysis. The results show that the variation tendencies of mean and root mean square (RMS) pressure coefficients are similar in different VIV development stages. The RMS values during amplitude growth are larger than those at peak amplitude, and the smallest RMS values are observed in the stationary state. The spanwise correlation coefficients of aerodynamic lifts increase with increase of the peak amplitude. However, for the lock-in region, the maximum spanwise correlation coefficient for aerodynamic lifts occurs in the VIV rising stage rather than in the peak amplitude stage, probably due to the interaction of vortex shedding force (VSF) and self-excited force (SEF). The streamwise correlation results show that the demarcation point positions between the recirculation region and the main vortex region remain almost constant in different VIV development stages, and the reattachment points gradually move to the tailing edge with increasing amplitude. This study provides a reference to estimate the demarcation point and reattachment point positions through streamwise correlation and phase angle analysis from wind tunnel tests.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.315-320
• /
• 2008

This paper describes aerodynamic characteristics for the NREL(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Phase VI rotor using the Fluent which is a commercial flow analysis tool. Aerodynamic analysis results are compared with experimental results by the NREL/NASA Ames wind tunnel tests. For three velocity cases, computed results are compared with experiment results at five spanwise positions. Computed results represented good agreement with the experimental results at low velocity. Otherwise computed results in suction side represents disagreement with the experimental results at high velocity. When interval between wind turbines is 10 times of rotor diameter, CFD research is performed to calculate the wake effect.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.523-542
• /
• 2016

Snowdrift formation on roofs should be considered in snowy and windy areas to ensure the safety of buildings. Presently, the prediction of snowdrifts on roofs relies heavily on field measurements, wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations. In this paper, a new snowdrift modeling method by using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) coupled with DEM (Discrete Element Method) is presented, including material parameters and particle size, collision parameters, particle numbers and input modes, boundary conditions of CFD, simulation time and inlet velocity, and coupling calculation process. Not only is the two-way coupling between wind and snow particles which includes the transient changes in snow surface topography, but also the cohesion and collision between snow particles are taken into account. The numerical method is applied to simulate the snowdrift on a typical stepped flat roof. The feasibility of using coupled CFD with DEM to study snowdrift is verified by comparing the simulation results with field measurement results on the snow depth distribution of the lower roof.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.517-540
• /
• 2013

This paper presents applications of proper orthogonal decomposition in both the time and frequency domains based on both cross spectral matrix and covariance matrix branches to analyze multi-variate unsteady pressure fields on prisms and to study spanwise and chordwise pressure distribution. Furthermore, modification of proper orthogonal decomposition is applied to a rectangular spanwise coherence matrix in order to investigate the spanwise correlation and coherence of the unsteady pressure fields. The unsteady pressure fields have been directly measured in wind tunnel tests on some typical prisms with slenderness ratios B/D=1, B/D=1 with a splitter plate in the wake, and B/D=5. Significance and contribution of the first covariance mode associated with the first principal coordinates as well as those of the first spectral eigenvalue and associated spectral mode are clarified by synthesis of the unsteady pressure fields and identification of intrinsic events inside the unsteady pressure fields. Spanwise coherence of the unsteady pressure fields has been mapped the first time ever for better understanding of their intrinsic characteristics.