Wind and Structures

Volume 6, Number 3, 2003, pages 209-220

DOI: 10.12989/was.2003.6.3.209

Computer modeling of tornado forces on buildings

R. Panneer Selvam and Paul C. Millett rn

Abstract

A tornado changes its wind speed and direction rapidly; therefore, it is difficult to study the effects of a tornado on buildings in a wind tunnel. In this work, the status of the tornado-structure interaction is surveyed by numerical simulation. Various models of the tornado wind field found in literature are surveyed. Three-dimensional computer modeling work using the turbulence model based onrnlarge eddy simulation is presented. The effect of tornado on a cubic building is considered for this study. The Navier-Stokes (NS) equations are approximated by finite difference method, and solved by a semi-implicit procedure. The force coefficients are plotted in time to study the effect of the Rankine-CombinedrnVortex Model. Some flow visualizations are also reported to understand the flow behavior around the cube.

Key Words

tornado; building; tornado-structure interaction; computational fluid dynamics; wind engineering.

Address

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA