Wind loading characteristics of super-large cooling towers

The aerodynamic and aero-elastic model tests of the China``s highest cooling tower has been carried out in the TJ-3 Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel of Tongji University. By adopting a scanivalve system, the external wind pressure is firstly measured on taps for a single tower, two and four grouped towers under the condition of both smooth flow and the boundary layer due to surrounding geographic and building topography. The measurements of internal wind pressure distribution of taps are taken for a single tower under the various ventilation ratios ranging from 0% to 100% of stuffing layers located at the bottom of the tower. In the last stage, the wind tunnel tests with an aero-elastic model are carefully conducted to determine wind-induced displacements at six levels (each with eight points) with laser displacement sensors. According to the measurement results of wind pressure or vibration response, the extreme aerodynamic loading values of the single or grouped towers are accordingly analyzed based on probability correlation technique.