engleski

Aerodynamic loads on vehicles due to the bora wind

A major threat to traffic in coastal Croatia is a strong, cold and gusty north-easterly bora wind blowing over the Dinaric Alps along the eastern Adriatic. Hence, major freeways connecting the mainland with the coast have had to be closed to traffic very often in the past. While there are numerous meteorological studies on the bora wind characteristics, reports on engineering simulation of that wind and its interaction with structures and vehicles are still rare. In this study, wind-tunnel experiments were carried out at University of Notre Dame, USA, to simulate the bora wind loading of vehicles placed on a bridge deck. The mean side force, the lift force and the overturning moment of the vehicle were observed to increase linearly with increase in the gust velocity. Wind gusting causes the turbulent wind energy to shift toward lower frequencies that can significantly deteriorate the vehicle stability. Two major phenomena determined transient aerodynamic loads on a vehicle: vortex shedding from the bridge and wind gusting. With increasing gust strength, the unsteady component of the lift force and of the overturning moment becomes predominantly influenced by the gusting of the oncoming wind and the vortex shedding effects become less important.

Bora wind; aerodynamic loads on vehicles; wind-tunnel experiments

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