WIND TUNNEL STUDY ON THE THREE DIMENSIONAL FLOW AND SPATIAL CORRELATION PROPERTIES OF WIND LOADS ON HYPERBOLOIDAL COOLING TOWERS

Simultaneous pressure-measured tests on the rigid model of a large hyperboloidal cooling towers were conducted in wind tunnel tests and the characteristics of wind loads including the three dimensional flow and the spatial correlation were illustrated. Due to the low slenderness ratio,distinct three dimensional flow is highlighted at the bottom and especially the top edges,which is called edge effects and characterized by the decrease of mean suction and surge of fluctuation in sideward. Also,the latitude correlation decreases and the location of the maximal mean suction fluctuation moves behind. In the latitude direction,it can be divided into two regions named related area (0°≤|θ|≤100°) and unrelated area (100°≤|θ|≤180°) according to the latitude correlation. Three regions named high-related area (0°≤|θ|≤100°),low-related area (100°≤|θ|≤150°) and mid-related area (150°≤|θ|≤180°) are divided according to the meridian correlation similarly. Additionally,the maximal amplitudes of mean and fluctuation pressure both occur at the stagnation point and two C_P,min points,coupled with the high correlation among the three points,so the non-uniformity of the latitude wind pressure and the wind-induced responses will be aggregated consequently.