This page contains material for the course MME 491b on "Wind Engineering"
The lectures on this course will commence on Tuesday 9th January 2006.
EXAMPLES OF FAILURE
For more information about the Tacoma
Narrows Bridge collapse click
here
Short
video of Tacoma Narrows Bridge oscillations
NOTES AND NEWS
For a copy of a Study Note on upper level wind speed estimation and the associated tutorial questions please click here. We'll be doing these in the tutorial on Tuesday 16th January.
For a copy, in colour, of graphs of losses due to natural catastrophes on an annual basis (1950 - 2002) click here (Source: Munich Re, 2003)
Here are the tutorial questions for the class on 23rd January on ABL wind profiles.
The tutorial sheet on statistical analysis of annual maximum (extreme) hourly mean wind speeds (based on the notes on "Design winds and structural safety") is given here.
Some field data for carrying out an Extreme Value Analysis of wind speeds are given in an Excel spreadsheet here, whilst the accompanying background notes and exercises are given in the Word file here.
The laboratory classes to measure wind loads on a structure (Course Project #2) will be run on 13th and 20th of February. The class will be split into groups so each person does the lab for just under one hour. I will be forming up groups soon by sending a sign-up sheet around the class and so please think about which day and time (9.30 - 10.30, 2.30 - 3.30 or 3.30 to 4.30) works best for you. The size of each group will be limited to 3 or 4 people.
The tutorial questions for next week (6th February) on turbulence, wind pressures and loads are given here.
Wind Tunnel Experiments (Project #2): The velocity profile data for the boundary layer in the wind tunnel are in this file, to start your analysis. The pressure data from the model testing and some notes are in this zip file. The following files are some journal papers that will help your individual lab project write up: Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, Paper 4 . Remember that your report is due by 2.30 pm on Tuesday 13th March.
A copy of the tutorial questions on internal pressures for the class on Tuesday 13th March is here.
A background study note on dynamics, together with some tutorial questions for Tuesday 20th March can be downloaded here.
Project #3 requires use of the code and the associated commentary. The appropriate sections may be downloaded here as PDFs. The deadline is 10 a.m. on Tuesday 10th April 2007 into locker #6 and the coursework will be marked by Yu-kuang and may be collected from him one week later.
A NOTE ABOUT PROJECT #3 : There have been some questions about finding Cgi, as the size of the door is not provided in the question. The code/commentary indicates that you can either do a detailed calculation for this (where you need information on the door size and location) or take a value of 2.0 (which is the maximum possible value from the detailed method anyway).
The study note and questions on plume dispersion for the tutorial on Tuesday 27th March December may be downloaded here.
A copy of the notes for the class on Thursday 29th March may be downloaded here
Here are the solutions to most
of the tutorial questions. They are in JPEG image format in zip files. Each zip
file contains the pages for a given tutorial subject:
Atmospheric boundary layer profiles
The final exam (3 hours) will have 5 questions, most of which will be a mix of calculations and descriptive work. For example, you might be asked to calculate something and discuss the significance of the results. Or you might be asked to describe the meaning of some terms which are then used in a calculated example. You can use a double-sided crib sheet (original copies only - no photocopies allowed) for equations but you'll need to study your notes carefully in order to deal with the more descriptive parts. Here is an example of a past exam paper and here is a handout for Question 1 on the paper. I have included the answers but please see William or Yu-Kuang if you want to go through the solutions.
Finally, I hope you have enjoyed the course - good luck with the exam !
Best wishes
Eric Savory
For a copy of the course outline click here
Instructor
Eric Savory (SEB 3085)
Office Hour is 1.30 - 2.30 pm on Tuesdays
E-mail: esavory@eng.uwo.ca
Course
web page
www.eng.uwo.ca
/people/esavory/mme491b.htm
Objectives
To
provide a broad understanding of the methods available for predicting steady and
unsteady wind effects, including loads, on a range of different buildings and
structures.
To give a
background to the general wind effects associated with structures, including
basic flow patterns, pedestrian comfort and pollution dispersion.
Outline
of course content
SECTION
1
-
Meteorology relating
to wind speeds and turbulence structure in the atmospheric boundary layer over
different terrain.
-
Prediction of extreme
wind speeds from historical data records.
SECTION
2
-
The basic flow
patterns around simple structural shapes.
-
The overall lift and
drag forces on a structure from wind pressure distributions.
-
The simulation of wind
profiles and measurements of loads from models in a wind tunnel.
SECTION 3
-
Wind loads for
structural design purposes from codes of practice and design guides.
-
Types of dynamic
excitation and methods for alleviation.
SECTION 4
-
Dispersion of plumes
from stacks.
-
Different types of
urban wind flow regimes and their effects on pollutant dispersion and pedestrian
comfort.
Texts
NRC/CNRC
“User’s Guide NBC 2005 Structural Commentaries (Part 4)” (for design calcs)
E.
Simiu and R.H. Scanlan “Wind effects on structures” 3rd
edition, 1996. John Wiley and Sons ISBN
0471121576 (not necessary for completing the course as it is very expensive)
Tutorial work
Tutorial
sessions will be a time for help with coursework, carrying out lab experiments
and also for doing numerical problems. The latter do not form part of the course
assessment.
Assessment
Three
Term Projects (40%) and Final examination (60%).
Term Projects (to be handed into Locker #6)
(1)
Literature search and technical discussion on a wind engineering topic (20%).
(2)
Report on a laboratory experiment concerning mean and unsteady loads on a
building model in a wind tunnel (10%).
(3)
Report on wind loading design calculations for a building (10%).
Exam (60%)
Duration:
3 hours for 5 questions.
Format: Questions will generally require answers
that will
be part descriptive and part numerical
(the latter being
related to tutorial work)
Teaching Assistants
William Lin ( wlin25@uwo.ca ), SEB 2101
Office Hour: Thursdays 2.30 - 3.30 pm
Yu-kuang Chen ( ychen29@uwo.ca ) SEB 3072
Office Hour: Fridays 11.30 am - 12.30 pm