|
The use of wind tunnels to study the effects of wind near
the earth's surface began some ninety years ago when a scientist
named Irminger placed a model house in a small wind tunnel to
measure wind pressures against the model. Since then, many attempts
have been made to develop useful laboratory representations
of the highly variable atmospheric winds.
Early researchers employed tunnels derived from aeronautical
wind tunnels that simulate steady wind flow situations such
as the flight of aircraft through still air. In the last thirty
years, fluid mechanics researchers and meteorologists have discovered
that turbulent boundary layer flow over the floor of a wind
tunnel might provide laboratory simulation for the "atmospheric
boundary layer" flow.
At the University of California, Davis, environmental aerodynamics
research is ongoing. Several particular areas of focus include
air quality studies and pedestrian level winds. Industrial and
commercial applications include wind farm sitings, aerodynamic
loads high-rise buildings, and stack exhaust safety analysis.
Most of the current research is conducted in one of three
wind tunnels located on the University of California, Davis
campus. The Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel can model
flow near the earth's surface. The Saltation Wind Tunnel
is used to model particle transport in air quality studies.
This site requires a browser that supports HTML tables.
Best viewed with Internet
Explorer 5 or higher
|
