Abstract
For wind tunnel testing, it is important to simulate the airflow pattern that has the same characteristics as the outside wind. The purpose of this study was to design vertical wind speed and turbulence intensity profiles with the same characteristics as outside agricultural fields. We used the wind tunnel facility at the National Institute for Rural Engineering (NIRE) in Japan. The vertical profiles of wind speed and turbulence intensity were measured at the center of a turntable placed inside the wind tunnel, using the 1/20 dimensional scale. In this study, the following results were obtained:
(1) The spires, roughness blocks and artificial turfs were arranged until a desirable roughness length was obtained that expressed the surface conditions of outside agricultural fields.
(2) Using logarithmic law, the 1/20 dimensional scaled roughness length of 0.52mm corresponded to a full-scale roughness length of 10.4mm, which corresponded to the roughness of a typical grass field.
(3) It was possible to achieve turbulence intensity values of 0.23 just above the top of the turntable. The obtained turbulence intensity was generally similar compared to the ‘Recommendations for Loads on Buildings’ published by the Architectural Institute of Japan.
