Segment V7.4: Wind Engineering Models

(Related to Textbook Section 7.9.2 - Flow Around Immersed Bodies)

Wind induced flow characteristics around buildings can be efficiently studied using modeling techniques.

The complicated wind patterns in a scale model of a building complex are studied in a large environ-mental wind tunnel by injecting smoke near the building of interest. Spires at the tunnel entrance and roughness elements on the floor of the tunnel are used to create the necessary flow similarity in the test section. Regions of high and low pressure can be determined by strategically located pressure taps. Large scale wind patterns can also be studied in this type of wind tunnel as illustrated with the model of the city of Hong Kong subjected to winds coming over nearby Victoria Peak. (Video courtesy of Cermak Peterka Petersen, Inc.)