Wind profile management and blockage assessment for a new 12-fan Wall of Wind facility at FIU

Aly Mousaad Aly, Arindam Gan Chowdhury and Girma Bitsuamlak

Abstract

Researchers at the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC), Florida International University (FIU), are working in stages on the construction of a large state-of-the-art Wall of Wind (WoW) facility to support research in the area of Wind Engineering. In this paper, the challenges of simulating hurricane winds for the WoW are presented and investigated based on a scale model study. Three wind profiles were simulated using airfoils, and/or adjustable planks mechanism with and without grids. Evaluations of flow characteristics were performed in order to enhance the WoW

Key Words

Wall of Wind; atmospheric boundary layer; wind profile simulation; pressure coefficient; blockage.

Address

Aly Mousaad Aly : Department of Mechanical Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt Arindam Gan Chowdhury : Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research, International Hurricane Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174, USA Girma Bitsuamlak: Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research, International Hurricane Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33174, USA

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