The Development of a Small Scale Wind Tunnel Simulating the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in Support of a Stochastic Wind Model

The Development of a Small Scale Wind Tunnel Simulating the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in Support of a Stochastic Wind Model
Author: Maximillian Hobson-Dupont
Publisher:
Total Pages: 74
Release: 2015
Genre: Boundary layer (Meteorology)
ISBN:

There has been much success in atmospheric boundary layer simulation with medium sized closed-circuit wind tunnels with test section dimensions of approximately 1 x 1 m. However, smaller, blower-type wind tunnels are more common in university laboratories due to the lower cost and smaller space requirements. A small size, open flow wind tunnel with a 1 x 1 foot test section was modified to simulate the atmospheric boundary layer with a combination of upstream spires and cubic roughness elements. The primitive spire geometry detailed in the literature was found to yield poor agreement with the power law velocity profile of interest, and a novel iterative algorithm was developed to produce nonlinear spire geometry. The geometry generated by the algorithm was tested in the wind tunnel and found to simulate the desired velocity profile based on a Hellman exponent of 0.20 with a high degree of agreement, having a maximum velocity error of 4%. This confirmed the suitability of small-sized wind tunnels for simulating the atmospheric boundary layer.

Wind Tunnel Modeling of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Wind Tunnel Modeling of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer
Author: Sreemanth Pagadala
Publisher:
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1972
Genre: Boundary layer (Meteorology)
ISBN:

"The importance of simulating atmospheric flows in wind tunnels has been well established. Experiments were conducted in the Modified Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel to determine the suitability of this wind tunnel for simulating atmospheric flows and the degree to which various aspects of modeling could be fulfilled. A temperature profile to simulate the inversion aloft was generated inside the test section, and then an appropriate velocity profile was built in by means of screen mesh arrangements. The turbulence characteristics of the flow were measured. The validity of the temperature, velocity and turbulence fields were examined. It was found that while the temperature and velocity profiles were quite valid, the turbulence generated by the screen mesh arrangement was too high. The test section being short, turbulence could not be damped out to the required level. A model smoke stack was introduced into the test section to observe the effect of the modeled inversion on the plume. The smoke velocity could not be effectively controlled, and the plume could only be observed a very short distance downstream. Therefore, the plume path was not very realistic. Other smoke tests in the test section showed maximum turbulence at the surface and no significant change when the temperature profile was introduced"--Abstract, leaf ii.