Other Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Effects Of Wind Turbine Rotor Positioning On Tornado Induced Loads, Juan P. Lopez Ortiz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates the loads induced by a large-scale tornado simulation on a horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) to assess the influence of three-dimensional flows with respect to the HAWT position. The loads were analyzed under two rotor operational conditions, idling and parked, at five radial distances. Subsequently, experimental validation of the numerical code HIW-TUR was conducted by evaluating the induced moments for various yaw and pitch angles. The experimental results demonstrated that the bending moment was the most important in terms of magnitude and variation with respect to the HAWT position. Furthermore, The HIW-TUR code accurately identified the magnitude …

Full-Scale Tests Of A Wood-Frame Structure Under Extreme Wind Loads, Derek A. Stedman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Tornadoes can produce some of the strongest winds on earth; these highly localized storms can cause massive damage. Assessments of tornado wind speeds are done using post-event observations of damage via the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

A very commonly observed failure occurs at the roof-to-wall connection where the roof breaks up or flies away, typically leaving the walls in place. However, once the roof is gone the walls are more vulnerable to the wind. If a wall subsequently fails, it increases the risk of injury or death for occupants. Significant research has been done for failures of roof-to-wall connections and roof …

Numerical Simulation Of Tornado-Like Vortices, Diwakar Natarajan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The thesis investigates by numerical simulation the flow characteristics of tornado like vortices produced by three types of vortex generators, namely, Ward-type Tornado Vortex Chamber (TVC), WinDEEE Dome and Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE).

Laboratory scale (Ward-type TVC) tornado-like vortices were simulated for swirl ratios 0.1 to 2.0 using the CFD code Fluent 6.3. The simulations with Reynolds stress model compare well with past experimental results. Multiple vortices were observed for high swirl ratios in LES simulation. These simulations have generated a comprehensive benchmark data for future modelers and experimenters.

The effects of translation and surface roughness on laboratory scale tornado-like …