Full-scale flow measurement on a tall building with a continuous-wave Doppler Lidar anemometer. Issue 154 (July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lim, Kiros E.W.; Watkins, Simon; Clothier, Reece; Ladani, Raj; Mohamed, Abdulghani; Palmer, Jennifer L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of wind engineering and industrial aerodynamics. Issue 154(2016)
• Page Start: 69
• Page End: 75
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Subjects: Building aerodynamics -- Doppler Lidar -- Continuous wave -- Full-scale testing -- Wind-tunnel testing; Wind-pressure -- Periodicals; Buildings -- Aerodynamics -- Periodicals; Pression du vent -- Périodiques; Constructions -- Aérodynamique -- Périodiques; Buildings -- Aerodynamics; Wind-pressure; Periodicals
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jweia.2016.04.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0167-6105

Abstract

Abstract: While building aerodynamics have been widely studied, most investigations have been conducted in wind tunnels or through computational simulation. Full-scale experiments are least common, as they are usually costly, require significant time and effort and are subject to uncontrolled meteorological conditions. This research examines the feasibility of using a continuous-wave Doppler Lidar, as opposed to traditional experimental instrumentation for flow measurements around full-scale buildings. The normalised mean velocities and the turbulence intensities measured around a full-size, nominally cuboid building in suburban terrain were compared to results from Cobra multi-hole pressure probes mounted on the full-size building and from a 1/100-scale wind-tunnel test. The normalised mean velocities measured in the tests were within 2% of each other; however, the turbulence intensities obtained from the wind-tunnel experiments were 2–6% higher than the nominal value of 14% measured in the full-scale testing. These effects appeared mainly due to the relatively low sampling frequency of the Lidar, combined with the spatial averaging over a relatively large area. It was concluded that Lidar instrumentation shows promise for characterising the flowfield around full-scale buildings, if the scanning cone angle can be reduced and the sampling rate increased. Highlights: Lidar measurements from the top of building are compared to wind-tunnel measurements Use of Lidar for measuring velocity and turbulence intensities vertical profiles described. Higher Lidar scanning rates and reduced cone angle would improve data accuracy.