Reduction of low-frequency pressure fluctuations in wind tunnels

The determination of dynamic wind loads on buildings, i.e. pressure and deflection, has gained increasing interest (European Prestandard ENV 1991-2-4, Eurocode 1: basis of design and actions on structures—Part 2-4: actions on structures—wind actions, European Committe for Standardization, Brussels, 1995; DIN 1055 Teil 4 Lastannahmen für Bauten, Verkehrslasten, Windlasten bei nicht schwingungsanfälligen Bauwerken, 1991; N. Hölscher, M. Hortmanns, J. Sahlem, Praxisnahe Erfassung von Windwirkung an Industrie- und Hochbauten, Windwirkung im Bauwesen, Braunschweig, 7, Dreiländertagung D-A-CH 2001, Windtechnologische Gesselschaft, 2001 [1], [2] and [3]). Therefore, the spectral distributions of velocity and pressure fluctuations in wind tunnels are an important quality aspect. While velocity fluctuations can be manipulated by the obstacles used to create the turbulence, pressure fluctuations are influenced by acoustic noise as well. Especially, the first eigenfrequency of the longitudinal mode of the wind tunnel tends to disturb the pressure spectrum.In this paper, a solution for the reduction of low-frequency acoustic pressure fluctuation is presented and its application in the atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel at the IAG is shown.