Forina-Morales, Francesco Gabrielle

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    Numerical modeling of realistic atmospheric boundary layer conditions for a low-speed wind tunnel
    (2020-12-11) Forina-Morales, Francesco Gabrielle; Torres-Nieves, Sheilla; College of Engineering; Gutiérrez, Gustavo; Rodríguez-Abudo, Sylvia; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Zapata-Medina, Rocío
    Atmospheric conditions occurring up to 1 km above the surface of the Earth are largely dominated by what is known as the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer. Hence, understanding the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer is of great interest for many fields of study and industries. For instance, the interaction between wind turbines. Aircraft taking off and landing, weather conditions, and dispersion of pollutants over cities, among many others, are phenomena that occur within the atmospheric boundary layer. This investigation intends to numerically simulate the atmospheric turbulent boundary layer to accurately recreate these inflow conditions inside of a low-speed wind tunnel. To simulate a realistic environment, certain atmospheric conditions had to be generated, including the atmospheric boundary layer profile. To achieve this, triangular vortex generators, called spires, were added to condition the incoming flow. The design of these spires was based on a design methodology which uses the dimensions of the wind tunnel, the desired Hellman exponent and desired boundary layer height to generate the dimensions of the spire. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations, with the aid of the commercial software Star CCM+, were performed to characterize the flow behavior generated by the spires. For the purpose of this investigation, the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) 7-16 classification for terrain types was used as the standard to compare the empirical data with acquired numerical results. According to the numerical results the Irwin design methodology overestimates the desired Hellman exponent to an average value of 17%, and it is recommended to start with the spire design process with a lower Hellman exponent than the intended design. The turbulence intensity profile did not match exactly past data of ASCE 7-16 which could be due to the lack of surface roughness on the bottom floor where the spires are present. More flow blockage devices could be added to induce roughness such as blocks or walls to induce a higher degree of turbulence to match the theoretical turbulence profile.