Extreme Wind Speeds: Videos and Animations

Wind simulation animation (requires a Windows Media Player, click on the image to initiate the animation).

If the flow were laminar and perfectly symmetrical with respect to the vertical plane containing the ridge, the pressure distribution on the end wall would in theory also be symmetrical. However, owing to the signature turbulence (i.e., the turbulence caused by the immersion of the building in the flow), the pressures on the roof and the walls parallel to the ridge would vary in time and space.

In addition, if the incoming flow is turbulent (i.e., if its spatial coherence is imperfect), the instantaneous pressures will vary in time and space on the roof and on all walls.

This video is in QuickTime format, click on the image to initiate the animation).

Galloping of a square cylinder. Wind speed is normal to the plane containing the springs. For a description and explanation of the galloping phenomenon, see E. Simiu and D. Yeo, Wind Effects on Structures, 4th ed., Sections 20.1.1 and 20.1.2.