• Wind and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.197-212
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• 2005

Tall buildings under wind action usually oscillate simultaneously in the along-wind and across-wind directions as well as in torsional modes. While several procedures have been developed for predicting wind-induced loads and responses in along-wind direction, accurate analytical methods for estimating across-wind and torsional response have not been possible yet. Simplified empirical formulas for estimation of the across-wind dynamic responses of rectangular tall buildings are presented in this paper. Unlike established empirical formulas in codifications, the formulas proposed in this paper are developed based on simultaneous pressure measurements from a series of tall building models with various side and aspect ratios in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Comparisons of the across-wind responses determined by the proposed formulas and the results obtained from the wind tunnel tests as well as those estimated by two well-known wind loading codes are made to examine the applicability and accuracy of the proposed simplified formulas. It is shown through the comparisons that the proposed simplified formulas can be served as an alternative and useful tool for the design and analysis of wind effects on rectangular tall buildings.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.308-315
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• 2014

In this study, reduced scale experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of external wind in a road tunnel fire. Experiments were conducted in a $1.1m{\times}0.5m{\times}50.4m$ tunnel. 4.5 litter gasoline was used as a fuel. Temperature, oxygen and carbon monoxide concentration were measured. Smoke reaching time to the tunnel exit was affected by the external wind. When a fire was fully developed, wind effect is reduced compared with the early stage of a fire. CO concentration was reached at more than 1,500 ppm.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.23-44
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• 2007

Wind tunnel experiments on small scale groups of tanks are reported in the paper, with the aim of evaluating the pressure patterns due to group effects. A real tank configuration is studied in detail because one tank buckled during a hurricane category 3. Three configurations are studied in a wind tunnel, two with several tanks and different wind directions, and a third one with just one blocking tank. The pressures were measured in the cylindrical part and in the roof of the tank, in order to obtain pressure coefficients. Next, computational buckling analyses were carried out for the three configurations to evaluate the buckling pressure of the target structure. Finally, imperfection-sensitivity was investigated for one of the configurations, and moderate sensitivity was found, with reductions in the maximum load of the order of 25%. The results help to explain the buckling of the tank for the levels of wind experienced during the hurricane.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.589-608
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• 2017

A novel probabilistic approach is presented for estimating the equivalent static wind loads that produce a static response of the structure, which is "equivalent" in a probabilistic sense, to the extreme dynamic responses due to the unsteady pressure random field induced by the wind. This approach has especially been developed for complex structures (such as stadium roofs) for which the unsteady pressure field is measured in a boundary layer wind tunnel with a turbulent incident flow. The proposed method deals with the non-Gaussian nature of the unsteady pressure random field and presents a model that yields a good representation of both the quasi-static part and the dynamical part of the structural responses. The proposed approach is experimentally validated with a relatively simple application and is then applied to a stadium roof structure for which experimental measurements of unsteady pressures have been performed in boundary layer wind tunnel.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.37-56
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• 2014

The evaluation of pressure fields acting on slender structures under wind loads is currently performed in experimental aerodynamic tests. For wind-sensitive structures, in fact, the knowledge of global and local wind actions is crucial for design purpose. This paper considers a particular slender structure under wind excitation, representative of most common high-rise buildings, whose experimental wind field on in-scale model was measured in the CRIACIV boundary-layer wind tunnel (University of Florence) for several angles of attack of the wind. It is shown that an efficient reduced model to represent structural response can be obtained by coupling the classical structural modal projection with the so called blowing modes projection, obtained by decomposing the covariance or power spectral density (PSD) wind tensors. In particular, the elaboration of experimental data shows that the first few blowing modes can effectively represent the wind-field when eigenvectors of the PSD tensor are used, while a significantly larger number of blowing modes is required when the covariance wind tensor is used to decompose the wind field.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 1998

This paper describes wind investigations for the Leaning Tower of Pisa which were conducted as part of an overall evaluation of its behaviour. Normally a short, stiff and heavy building would not be a candidate for detailed wind analyses. However, because of extremely high soil pressures developed from its inclination, there has been increasing concern that environmental loading such as wind actions could combine with existing conditions to cause the collapse of the tower. The studies involved wind assessment at the site as a function of wind direction, analysis of historical wind data to determine extreme wind probabilities of occurrence, estimation of structural properties, analytical and boundary layer wind tunnel investigations of wind loads and evaluation of the response with special concern for loads in the direction of inclination of the tower and significant wake effects from the neighboring cathedral for critical wind directions. The conclusions discuss the role of wind on structural safety, the precision of results attained and possible future studies involving field measurements aimed at validating or improving the analytical and boundary layer wind tunnel based assessments.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2013

The correlation and interaction mechanisms between marine debris and the vegetation zone were studied on the Jinu-do natural beach of the Nakdong river estuary. Laboratory wind tunnel experiments were carried out under the wind-field and bottom-sand conditions using wind tunnel test equipment to investigate the sedimentation characteristics of wind-drift sand deposition around marine debris and the vegetation zone. The major environmental factors/loads considered in this study were the motion of sand by wind on the beach, deposition of marine debris, and change in the vegetation zone/line. When the marine debris was installed in the wind tunnel, deposition at the front of the structure appeared first by wind action, and then deposition developed from behind at 70% of the front ground level. In contrast, in the case of vegetation, the deposition phenomenon appeared first from behind the vegetation zone/line, and was 60% higher than the front. When the height of the debris and vegetation was the same, the required experimental time to bury the vegetation completely was about twice that of the marine debris.

• 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.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.547-558
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• 2020

With the development of economy and construction technology, more and more bridges are built in complex mountainous areas. Accurate assessment of wind parameters is important in bridge construction at complex terrain. In order to investigate the wind characteristics in the high-altitude difference area, a complex mountain terrain model with the scale of 1:2000 was built. By using the method of wind tunnel tests, the study of wind characteristics including mean wind characteristics and turbulence characteristics was carried out. The results show: The wind direction is affected significant by the topography, the dominant wind direction is usually parallel to the river. Due to the sheltering effect of the mountain near the bridge, the wind speed and wind attack angle along the bridge are both uneven which is different from that at flat terrain. In addition, different from flat terrain, the wind attack angle is mostly negative. The wind profiles obey exponential law and logarithmic law. And the fitting coefficient is consistent with the code which means that it is feasible to use the method of wind tunnel test to simulate complex terrain. As for turbulence characteristics, the turbulence intensity is also related to the topography. Increases sheltering effect of mountain increases the degree of breaking up the large-scale vortices, thereby increasing the turbulence intensity. Also, the value of turbulence intensity ratio is different from the recommended values in the code. The conclusions of this study can provide basis for further wind resistance design of the bridge.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1050-1059
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• 2005

Heat and $SF_6$ gas dispersions over a complex terrain were investigated using wind tunnel. The wind speed, temperature and concentration profiles were measured for the 1/1000 scale complicated terrain model in an Eiffel type boundary layer wind tunnel with test section of 2.5m in height and 4.5m in width. The scale model was mounted on the top of a plate which can rotate with respect to the approaching wind. Dispersion processes from a continuous emission source driven by various wind direction were investigated, including plume climbing over the steep up-slope of the mountain and down-spreading toward the lower level of the valley. Extensive dispersion experiment data (wind speeds and concentration profiles) were provided for verification and validation of dispersion models. Under the identical flow and emission conditions, the independently measured profiles of the temperature and $SF_6$ concentration showed an excellent agreement which ensured the credibility of the results.