The Design and Construction of an Educational Wind Tunnel for High-Rises Shape Optimization
By: Lauren Williams, Connor Galvin
Department: Engineering
Faculty Advisors: Dr. Zhaoshuo Jiang, Dr. Tim D'Orazio
Wind load plays a decisive role in high-rise design. The shape of the high-rises has proven to have a huge influence on the wind flow around the building. In this project, an educational wind tunnel is designed and constructed in order to investigate the influence of various building shapes on structural performance. A literature review is first performed to look at the existing wind tunnel designs. An iteration design process is then used to minimize all obstructions for the wind going through the wind tunnel. Finally, in this project, we are conducting a series of tests to ensure the quality of the results we receive.