A wind tunnel investigation of plume dispersion in the vicinity of a surface mounted Cube—I. The flow field

In order to understand the processes involved in plume dispersion in the vicinity of large buildings it is vital to obtain knowledge concerning the velocity and turbulence fields associated with both the approach flow and the building wake. An investigation was undertaken of the flow about a surface mounted cube in a simulated atmospheric boundary layer, the cube height being one tenth of the boundary layer height. The structure and development of the undisturbed boundary layer are described and some comparisons made with full scale measurements. The results of an investigation of the mean pressure forces on, and the flow around, the cube are presented and discussed. Qualitative conclusions are drawn concerning a number of important effects of body orientation and approach flow characteristics.