• Title/Summary/Keyword: wind flow

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Laboratory measurements of the drag coefficient over a fixed shoaling hurricane wave train

  • Zachry, Brian C.;Letchford, Chris W.;Zuo, Delong;Kennedy, Andrew B.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.193-211
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    • 2013
  • This paper presents results from a wind tunnel study that examined the drag coefficient and wind flow over an asymmetric wave train immersed in turbulent boundary layer flow. The modeled wavy surface consisted of eight replicas of a statistically-valid hurricane-generated wave, located near the coast in the shoaling wave region. For an aerodynamically rough model surface, the air flow remained attached and a pronounced speed-up region was evident over the wave crest. A wavelength-averaged drag coefficient was determined using the wind profile method, common to both field and laboratory settings. It was found that the drag coefficient was approximately 50% higher than values obtained in deep water hurricane conditions. This study suggests that nearshore wave drag is markedly higher than over deep water waves of similar size, and provides the groundwork for assessing the impact of nearshore wave conditions on storm surge modeling and coastal wind engineering.

Numerical investigations on the along-wind response of a vibrating fence under wind action

  • Fang, Fuh-Min;Ueng, Jin-Min;Chen, J.C.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.5 no.2_3_4
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    • pp.329-336
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    • 2002
  • The along-wind response of a surface-mounted elastic fence under the action of wind was investigated numerically. In the computations, two sets of equations, one for the simulation of the unsteady turbulent flow and the other for the calculation of the dynamic motion of the fence, were solved alternatively. The resulting time-series tip response of the fence as well as the flow fields were analyzed to examine the dynamic behaviors of the two. Results show that the flow is unsteady and is dominated by two frequencies: one relates to the shear layer vortices and the other one is subject to vortex shedding. The resulting unsteady wind load causes the fence to vibrate. The tip deflection of the fence is periodic and is symmetric to an equilibrium position, corresponding to the average load. Although the along-wind aerodynamic effect is not significant, the fluctuating quantities of the tip deflection, velocity and acceleration are enhanced as the fundamental frequency of the fence is near the vortex or shedding frequency of the flow due to the occurrence of resonance. In addition, when the fence is relatively soft, higher mode response can be excited, leading to significant increases of the variations of the tip velocity and acceleration.

Experimental Analysis of Flow Characteristics around Wind-Turbine Blades (풍력터빈 블레이드 주위 흐름의 유동특성에 대한 실험적 분석)

  • Lee, Jung-Yeop;Lee, Sang-Joon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.64-71
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    • 2010
  • The flow and noise characteristics of wake behind wind-turbine blades have been investigated experimentally using a two-frame particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Experiments were carried out in a POSTECH subsonic large wind-tunnel ($1.8^W{\times}1.5^H{\times}4.3^L\;m^3$) with KBP-750D (3-blade type) wind-turbine model at a freestream velocity of $U_o\;=\;15\;m/s$ and a tip speed ratio $\lambda\;=\;6.14$ (2933 rpm). The wind-turbine blades are connected to an AC servo motor, brake, encoder and torque meter to control the rotational speed and to extract a synchronization signal for PIV measurements. The wake flow was measured at four azimuth angles ($\phi\;=\;0^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$, $60^{\circ}$ and $90^{\circ}$) of the wind-turbine blade. The dominant flow structure of the wake is large-scale tip vortices. The turbulent statistics such as turbulent intensity are weakened as the flow goes downstream due to turbulent dissipation. The dominant peak frequency of the noise signal is identical to the rotation frequency of blades. The noise seems to be mainly induced by the tip vortices.

Wind tunnel modeling of flow over mountainous valley terrain

  • Li, C.G.;Chen, Z.Q.;Zhang, Z.T.;Cheung, J.C.K.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.13 no.3
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    • pp.275-292
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    • 2010
  • Wind tunnel experiments were conducted to investigate the wind characteristics in the mountainous valley terrain with 4 simplified valley models and a 1:500 scale model of an existing valley terrain in the simulated atmospheric neutral boundary layer model. Measurements were focused on the mean wind flow and longitudinal turbulence intensity. The relationship between hillside slopes and the velocity speed-up effect were studied. By comparing the preliminary results obtained from the simplified valley model tests and the existing terrain model test, some fundamental information was obtained. The measured results indicate that it is inappropriate to describe the mean wind velocity profiles by a power law using the same roughness exponent along the span wise direction in the mountainous valley terrain. The speed-up effect and the significant change in wind direction of the mean flow were observed, which provide the information necessary for determining the design wind speed such as for a long-span bridge across the valley. The longitudinal turbulence intensity near the ground level is reduced due to the speed-up effect of the valley terrain. However, the local topographic features of a more complicated valley terrain may cause significant perturbation to the general wind field characteristics in the valley.

Wind-tunnel blockage effect on drag coefficient of circular cylinders

  • Anthoine, J.;Olivari, D.;Portugaels, D.
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.12 no.6
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    • pp.541-551
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    • 2009
  • This paper explains how to correctly measure the drag coefficient of a circular cylinder in wind tunnels with large blockage ratios and for the sub-critical to the super-critical flow regimes. When dealing with large blockage ratios, the drag has to be corrected for wall constraints. Different formulations for correcting blockage effect are compared for each flow regime based on drag measurements of smooth circular cylinders performed in a wind tunnel for three different blockage ratios. None of the correction model known in the literature is valid for all the flow regimes. To optimize the correction and reduce the scatter of the results, different correction models should be combined depending on the flow regime. In the sub-critical regime, the best results are obtained using Allen and Vincenti's formula or Maskell's theory with ${\varepsilon}$=0.96. In the super-critical regime, one should prefer using Glauert's formula with G=0.6 or the model of Modi and El-Sherbiny. The change in the formulations appears at the flow transition with a variation of the wake pattern when passing from sub-critical to super-critical flow regimes. This parameter being not considered in the known blockage corrections, these theories are not valid for all the flow regimes.

The motion rule of sand particles under control of the sand transportation engineering

  • Xin, Lin-gui;Cheng, Jian-jun;Chen, Bo-yu;Wang, Rui
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.213-221
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    • 2018
  • In the desert and Gobi regions with strong wind and large sediment discharge, sand transporting engineering is more effective than sand blocking and sand fixing measures in sand prevention. This study uses the discrete phase model of 3D numerical simulation to study the motion trail, motion state and distribution rule of sand particles with different grain diameters when the included angle between the main shaft of the feather-row lateral transportation sand barrier and the wind direction changes, and conducts a comparison in combination with the wind tunnel test and the flow field rule of common sand barrier. According to the comparison, when wind-sand incoming flow passes through a feather-row sand barrier, sand particles slow down and deposit within the deceleration area under the resistance of the feather-row sand barrier, move along the transportation area formed by the transportation force, and accumulate as a ridge at the tail of the engineering. With increasing wind speed, the eolian erosion of the sand particles to the ground and the feather-row sand barrier is enhanced, and the sand transporting quantity and throw-over quantity of the feather-row sand barrier are both increased. When sand particles with different grain diameters bypass the feather-row sand barrier, the particle size of the infiltrating sands will increase with the included angle between the main shaft of the feather-row sand barrier and the wind direction. The obtained result demonstrates that, at a constant wind speed, the flow field formed is most suitable for the lateral transportation of the wind-drift flow when the included angle between the main shaft of the feather-row sand barrier lateral transportation engineering and the wind speed is less than or equal to $30^{\circ}$.

The appropriate shape of the boundary transition section for a mountain-gorge terrain model in a wind tunnel test

  • Hu, Peng;Li, Yongle;Huang, Guoqing;Kang, Rui;Liao, Haili
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.15-36
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    • 2015
  • Characterization of wind flows over a complex terrain, especially mountain-gorge terrain (referred to as the very complex terrain with rolling mountains and deep narrow gorges), is an important issue for design and operation of long-span bridges constructed in this area. In both wind tunnel testing and numerical simulation, a transition section is often used to connect the wind tunnel floor or computational domain bottom and the boundary top of the terrain model in order to generate a smooth flow transition over the edge of the terrain model. Although the transition section plays an important role in simulation of wind field over complex terrain, an appropriate shape needs investigation. In this study, two principles for selecting an appropriate shape of boundary transition section were proposed, and a theoretical curve serving for the mountain-gorge terrain model was derived based on potential flow theory around a circular cylinder. Then a two-dimensional (2-D) simulation was used to compare the flow transition performance between the proposed curved transition section and the traditional ramp transition section in a wind tunnel. Furthermore, the wind velocity field induced by the curved transition section with an equivalent slope of $30^{\circ}$ was investigated in detail, and a parameter called the 'velocity stability factor' was defined; an analytical model for predicting the velocity stability factor was also proposed. The results show that the proposed curved transition section has a better flow transition performance compared with the traditional ramp transition section. The proposed analytical model can also adequately predict the velocity stability factor of the wind field.

Numerical Investigation on the Flow Noise Characteristics of the Hybrid Vertical-axis Wind Turbine (복합형 수직축 풍력발전기의 유동소음특성에 관한 수치적 고찰)

  • Kim, Sanghyeon;Cheong, Cheolung
    • The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.351-357
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    • 2014
  • In this paper, flow noise characteristics of the hybrid vertical-axis wind turbine is investigated. Hybrid vertical-axis wind turbines consisting of two types of vertical-axis wind turbines, Savonius and Darrieus, are devised to maximize merits of one turbine and thus minimize demerits of the other turbine. In order to predict flow noise radiating from hybrid vertical-axis wind turbines, hybrid computatioinal aero acoustic techniques are used. First, unsteady flow fields around the turbine are predicted using computational fluid dynamics method. Then, the flow noise radiations from the turbines are predicted by applying acoustic analogy to the predicted flow fields. Based on numerical results, noise characteristics of a hybrid vertical-axis wind turbine is investigated and is compared with those of Savonius and Darrieus wind turbines.

Investigation of the effects of free-stream turbulence on wind-induced responses of tall building by Large Eddy Simulation

  • Li, Q.S.;Hu, G.;Yan, Bo-Wen
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.18 no.6
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    • pp.599-618
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    • 2014
  • In this study, a square rectangular tall building is considered to investigate the effects of turbulence integral length scale and turbulence intensity on the along-wind responses, across-wind responses and torsional responses of the tall building by Large Eddy Simulation (LES). A recently proposed inflow turbulence generator called the discretizing and synthesizing random flow generation (DSRFG) approach is applied to simulate turbulent flow fields. It has been proved that the approach is able to generate a fluctuating turbulent flow field satisfying any given spectrum, desired turbulence intensity and wind speed profiles. Five profiles of turbulence integral length scale and turbulence intensity are respectively generated for the inflow fields by the DSRFG approach for investigating the effects of turbulence integral length scale and turbulence intensity on the wind-induced responses of the tall building. The computational results indicate that turbulence integral length scale does not have significant effect on the along-wind (displacement, velocity and acceleration) responses, across-wind displacement and velocity responses, while the across-wind acceleration and torsional responses vary without a clear rule with the parameter. On the other hand, the along-wind, across-wind and torsional responses increase with the growth of turbulence intensity.

A Study on the Effects of Turbulence to Ultimate Loads Acting on the Blade of Wind Turbine (풍력발전시스템의 블레이드에 작용하는 극한하중에 대한 난류의 영향 연구)

  • Hyun, Seung-Gun;Kim, Keon-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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    • v.33 no.1
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    • pp.7-14
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    • 2013
  • This study has analysed the ultimate loads acting on a wind turbine which is operating in a high turbulent flow condition because the ultimate loads are critical factors on the safe design of wind turbine. Since wind flow on the most parts of Korean mountainous are strongly influenced by complex configurations of the topography, turbulence intensity on somewhere is so stronger than an international design standard. For this reason, the characteristics of turbulent wind data collected from actual sites were analyzed and used for the ultimate load evaluation of the wind turbine. With the 270 design load cases on the international standards, the differences of ultimate loads on the wind turbine operating in the standard or high turbulent wind condition are calculated and compared for the an enhanced knowledge of the safe design basis. As are result, it is revealed the specific ultimate loads are strongly affected by the high turbulent wind conditions, thus the characteristics of turbulent flow must be considered during the design of wind turbine.