Euromed Polytechnic School seminars: The effects of wind on the built environment
Seminar cycle
Wind is a meteorological element translating into kinetic energy which pushes ships and activates the rotors of wind turbines. It has also been and is responsible for major disasters and enormous material losses.
At the level of buildings and bridges, wind translates into loads and pressures which impact the design of structures and the comfort of the user of a building or bridge.
Consideration of wind on structures often goes beyond existing construction standards which primarily deal with simple prismatic or aerodynamic shapes and rigid structures. For more complex works, modeling of wind effects is recommended. The studies in question are generally based on boundary layer wind tunnel tests and, to some extent, on numerical simulations.
Our guest, Pr. José Maria Terrés-Nicoli from the University of Granada in Spain, recipient of the medal of honor from the National College of Engineers of Spain, provided on March 16, 2022 a precise description of the impact of the wind on buildings, bridges and solar energy systems. The importance of taking into account spatio-temporal atmospheric turbulence on structures was also discussed and the modeling methodologies currently used presented based on specific projects and cases.
