Study on shelter effect of solid wind fences

Abstract

In this paper the shelter effect of solid wind fence is investigated. A solid fence was considered with different bottom gap ratios (ratio of bottom gap to the height of the fence) of 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. The numerical analysis was done for different free stream velocities of 7.5 m/s, 10 m/s and 12.5 m/s. The results obtained were compared with the results of wind tunnel testing and flow visualization. Comparison between the experimental and numerical results showed a fairly good agreement. Flow visualization technique provided sufficient information for planning and conducting flow field measurements with a clear demarcation of reattachment length. The modified k- ? turbulence model predicted the flow well. From both the experimental and numerical investigation it is shown that a fence with gap ratio of 0.1 is effective in providing good shelter effect. 2011 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.