Modelling an equilibrium atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in computational wind engineering (CWE) and relevant areas requires the boundary conditions, the turbulence model and associated constants to be consistent with each other. Among them, the inflow boundary conditions play an important role and determine whether the equations of the turbulence model are satisfied in the whole domain. In this paper, the idea of modeling an equilibrium ABL through specifying proper inflow boundary conditions is extended to the SST k-w model, which is regarded as a better RANS model for simulating the blunt body flow than the standard k-w model. Two new sets of inflow boundary conditions corresponding to different descriptions of the inflow velocity profiles, the logarithmic law and the power law respectively, are then theoretically proposed and numerically verified. A method of determining the undetermined constants and a set of parameter system are then given, which are suitable for the standard wind terrains defined in the wind load code. Finally, the full inflow boundary condition equations considering the scale effect are presented for the purpose of general use.

In this work, wind tunnel tests of pressure measurements are carried out to assess the global aerodynamic interference factors, the local wind pressure interference factors, and the local lift spectra of an square high-rise building interfered by an identical cross-sections but lower height building arranged in various relative positions. The results show that, when the interfering building is located in an area of oblique upstream, the RMS of the along-wind, across-wind, and torsional aerodynamic forces on the test building increase significantly, and when it is located to a side, the mean across-wind and torsional aerodynamic forces increase; In addition, when the interfering building is located upstream or staggered upstream, the mean wind pressures on the sheltered windward side turn form positive to negative and with a maximum absolute value of up to 1.75 times, and the fluctuating wind pressures on the sheltered windward side and leading edge of the side increase significantly with decreasing spacing ratio (up to a maximum of 3.5 times). When it is located to a side, the mean and fluctuating wind pressures on the leading edge of inner side are significantly increased. The three-dimensional flow around a slightly-shorter disturbing building has a great effect on the average and fluctuating wind pressures on the windward or cross-wind faces. When the disturbing building is near to the test building, the vortex shedding peak in the lift spectra decreases and there are no obvious signs of periodicity, however, the energies of the high frequency components undergo an obvious increase.

Non-stationarity and non-Gaussian property are two of the most important characteristics of wind. These two features are studied in this study based on wind speed records measured at different heights from a 325 m high meteorological tower during the synoptic wind storms. By using the time-frequency analysis tools, it is found that after removing the low frequency trend of the longitudinal wind, the retained fluctuating wind speeds remain to be asymmetrically non-Gaussian distributed. Results show that such non-Gaussianity is due to the weak-stationarity of the detrended fluctuating wind speed. The low frequency components of the fluctuating wind speeds mainly contribute to the non-zero skewness, while distribution of the high frequency component is found to have high kurtosis values. By further studying the decomposed wind speed, the mechanisms of the non-Gaussian distribution are examined from the phase, turbulence energy point of view.

Snowdrift formation on roofs should be considered in snowy and windy areas to ensure the safety of buildings. Presently, the prediction of snowdrifts on roofs relies heavily on field measurements, wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations. In this paper, a new snowdrift modeling method by using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) coupled with DEM (Discrete Element Method) is presented, including material parameters and particle size, collision parameters, particle numbers and input modes, boundary conditions of CFD, simulation time and inlet velocity, and coupling calculation process. Not only is the two-way coupling between wind and snow particles which includes the transient changes in snow surface topography, but also the cohesion and collision between snow particles are taken into account. The numerical method is applied to simulate the snowdrift on a typical stepped flat roof. The feasibility of using coupled CFD with DEM to study snowdrift is verified by comparing the simulation results with field measurement results on the snow depth distribution of the lower roof.

The objective of this study is to investigate numerically the effect of building roof shaps on wind flow and pollutant dispersion in a street canyon with one row of trees of pore volume, <TEX>$P_{vol}=96%$</TEX>. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is used to evaluate air flow and pollutant dispersion within an urban street canyon using Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations and the Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Models (EARSM) based on k-<TEX>${\varepsilon}$</TEX> turbulence model to close the equation system. The numerical model is performed with ANSYS-CFX code. Vehicle emissions were simulated as double line sources along the street. The numerical model was validated by the wind tunnel experiment results. Having established this, the wind flow and pollutant dispersion in urban street canyons (with six roof shapes buildings) are simulated. The numerical simulation results agree reasonably with the wind tunnel data. The results obtained in this work, indicate that the flow in 3D domain is more complicated; this complexity is increased with the presence of trees and variability of the roof shapes. The results also indicated that the largest pollutant concentration level for two walls (leeward and windward wall) is observed with the upwind wedge-shaped roof. But the smallest pollutant concentration level is observed with the dome roof-shaped.

An adjustable, louver-type wind barrier was introduced in this study for improving the running safety and ride comfort of train on the bridge under the undesirable wind environment. The aerodynamic characteristics of both train and bridge due to this novel wind barrier was systematically investigated based on the wind tunnel tests. It is suggested that rotation angles of the adjustable blade of the louver-type wind barrier should be controlled within 90 to achieve an effective solution in terms of the overall aerodynamic performance of the train. Compared to the traditional grid-type wind barrier, the louver-type wind barrier generally presents better aerodynamic performance. Specifically, the larger decrease of the lift force and overturn moment of the train and the smaller increase of the drag force and torsional moment of the bridge resulting from the louver-type wind barrier were highlighted. Finally, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique was applied to explore the underlying mechanism of aerodynamic control using the proposed wind barrier.

The interaction between two different shaped structures is very important to be understood. Fluid-structure interactions and aerodynamics of a circular cylinder in the wake of a V-shaped cylinder are examined experimentally, including forces, shedding frequencies, lock-in process, etc., with the V-shaped cylinder width d varying from d/D = 0.6 to 2, where D is the circular cylinder diameter. While the streamwise separation between the circular cylinder and V-shaped cylinder was 10D fixed, the transverse distance T between them was varied from T/D = 0 to 1.5. While fluid force and shedding frequency of the circular cylinder were measured using a load cell installed in the circular cylinder, measurement of shedding frequency of the V-shaped cylinder was done by a hotwire. The major findings are: (i) a larger d begets a larger velocity deficit in the wake; (ii) with increase in d/D, the lock-in between the shedding from the two cylinders is centered at d/D = 1.1, occurring at d/D 0.95-1.35 depending on T/D; (iii) at a given T/D, when d/D is increased, the fluctuating lift grows and reaches a maximum before decaying; the d/D corresponding to the maximum fluctuating lift is dependent on T/D, and the relationship between them is linear, expressed as ; that is, a larger d/D corresponds to a greater T/D for the maximum fluctuating lift.

Aerodynamic effects, such as drag force and flow-induced vibration (FIV), on civil engineering structures can be minimized by optimally modifying the structure shape. This work investigates the turbulent wake of a square prism with its faces modified into a sinusoidal wave along the spanwise direction using three-dimensional large eddy simulation (LES) and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques at Reynolds number <TEX>$Re_{Dm}$</TEX> = 16,500-22,000, based on the nominal width (<TEX>$D_m$</TEX>) of the prism and free-stream velocity (<TEX>$U_{\infty}$</TEX>). Two arrangements are considered: (i) the top and bottom faces of the prism are shaped into the sinusoidal waves (termed as WSP-A), and (ii) the front and rear faces are modified into the sinusoidal waves (WSP-B). The sinusoidal waves have a wavelength of <TEX>$6D_m$</TEX> and an amplitude of <TEX>$0.15D_m$</TEX>. It has been found that the wavy faces lead to more three-dimensional free shear layers in the near wake than the flat faces (smooth square prism). As a result, the roll-up of shear layers is postponed. Furthermore, the near-wake vortical structures exhibit dominant periodic variations along the spanwise direction; the minimum (i.e., saddle) and maximum (i.e., node) cross-sections of the modified prisms have narrow and wide wakes, respectively. The wake recirculation bubble of the modified prism is wider and longer, compared with its smooth counterpart, thus resulting in a significant drag reduction and fluctuating lift suppression (up to 8.7% and 78.2%, respectively, for the case of WSP-A). Multiple dominant frequencies of vortex shedding, which are distinct from that of the smooth prism, are detected in the near wake of the wavy prisms. The present study may shed light on the understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms of FIV control, in terms of passive modification of the bluff-body shape.

In the present study, a new methodology is presented to study the ride comfort and bridge responses of a long-span bridge-traffic-wind coupled vibration system considering stochastic characteristics of traffic flow and bridge surface progressive deterioration. A three-dimensional vehicle model with 24 degrees-of-freedoms (DOFs) including a three-dimensional non-linear suspension seat model and the longitudinal vibration of the vehicle is firstly presented to study the ride comfort. An improved cellular automaton (CA) model considering the influence of the next-nearest neighbor vehicles and a progressive deterioration model for bridge surface roughness are firstly introduced. Based on the equivalent dynamic vehicle model approach, the bridge-traffic-wind coupled equations are established by combining the equations of motion of both the bridge and vehicles in traffic using the displacement relationship and interaction force relationship at the patch contact. The numerical simulations show that the proposed method can simulate rationally the ride comfort and bridge responses of the bridge-traffic-wind coupled system; and the vertical, lateral, and longitudinal vibrations of the driver seat model can affect significantly the driver\'s comfort, as expected.

A hanging-type sand-retaining wall is a very common sand-blocking fence structure used to prevent sand movement. This type of wall is widely used along the Qinghai-Tibet and Gobi desert railways in Xinjiang, Western China. To analyze the characteristics of wind-sand flow fields under the effect of such a sand fence structure, a wind tunnel test and a field test were carried out. The wind tunnel test showed the zoning characteristics of the flow fields under the effect of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall, and the field test provided the sediment transport data for effective wind-proof interval and the sand resistance data in the front and behind the sand-retaining wall. The consistency of the wind-sand flow fields with the spatial distribution characteristic of wind-carried sand motion was verified by the correspondences of the acceleration zone in the flow field and the negative elevation points of the percentage variations of the sand collection rate. The spatial distribution characteristic of the field sand collection data further showed the spatial structural characteristic of the sandy air currents under the action of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall and the sand resistance characteristic of the sand-retaining wall. This systematic study on the wind-sand flow fields under the control of the hanging-type sand-retaining wall provides a theoretical basis for the rational layout of sand control engineering systems and the efficient utilization of a hanging-type sand-retaining wall.