SNOWDRIFT FORMATLON AROUND THE BUILDINGS

Abstract

To study snowdrift formation around buildings, wind-tunnel experiments were carried out, using activated clay particles to simulate snow, on a 1/500 scale model of a housing area at HANAKAWA. The similarity of snowdrift between the model and the actual prototype was obtained precisely when the tunnel wind-speed and the wind duration were 6.0 m/s and 1.0 hours, respectively. This modeling technique using activated clay particles is proved to be useful for further studies on the most appropriate shape and block planning to prevent snowdrift.