Wind pressure measurements reach new levels

7 July 2016
“When it comes to providing accurate and reliable tests for our customers, we want to be at the cutting edge,” says Søren Vestergaard Larsen, Team leader of the Department for hydro- and aerodynamics at FORCE Technology.

That is where the new system comes in; we can see the results at the same time as the model is tested. The new and improved visualization tool helps build a stronger understanding during the tests as the engineer and the customer are able to see the same thing.

Ensuring safe building constructions 

When designing a building the use of codes of practice e.g. Eurocode can be used to identify the local and global peak wind loads. However, such codes do not include irregular architectural constructions.

With the new opportunity to determine the actual wind load on the buildings regardless of the geometry, it is possible to optimise the construction with respect to wind loads. With our pressure system we can obtain information about the wind load effects on even the narrowest corner of a building.  

The tools allow us to determine whether the structure is able to withstand the wind pressure: “Sometimes, we find that the design of the building has to be changed, because it otherwise will be subjected to excessive suction or wind pressure. This way we solve a problem for the customer that they wouldn’t have discovered by using codes of practice”, explains Jimmie Beckerlee, Senior Technician at FORCE Technology. 

Wind data visualisation

Normally wind is invisible but the new system’s visualisation tool allows us to see the contour plots of the wind pressure on the building:

“This allows us to perform part of the optimisation in real-time, whereas previously each configuration required manual post processing”, explains Jimmie Beckerlee. This enables us as well as the customers to obtain a better understanding of the wind loading process.

The enhanced data visualisation is also a very useful way of illustrating our results to the customers. This way they receive a quick and precise overview of the wind loads on their buildings.