* Corresponding author.

Journal of Wind Engineering

and Industrial Aerodynamics 84 (2000) 307}320
Characteristics of the low-speed wind tunnel
of the UNNE
Adrian R. Wittwer*, Sergio V. MoK ller
Facultad de Ingenieria de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Av. Las Heras 727,
3500 Resiste& ncia (Chaco), Argentina
PROMEC, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alerge, RS, Brazil
Abstract
This paper presents the evaluation of the characteristics of the open-loop low-speed UNNE
Wind Tunnel to verify its applicability to similarity studies and to experimental simulations of
the atmospheric boundary layer. For this purpose a hot wire anemometry system was imple-
mented for the measurements of mean velocity and velocity #uctuations. Data acquisition was
performed by means of an A/D converter board connected to a personal computer. Experi-
mental results are presented in form of velocity pro"les and turbulence intensities as well as
power spectral distributions of the axial component of the velocity #uctuations. Results of
measurements in the empty tunnel showed a uniform velocity "eld and low turbulence
intensities. Analysis of atmospheric boundary-layer simulations by means of Counihan and
Standen methods showed the adequecy of the tunnel for natural wind simulations. 2000
Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Low-speed wind tunnel; Wind tunnel; Natural wind simulation
1. Introduction
Wind tunnels are equipment designed to obtain air #ow conditions, so that
similarity studies can be performed, with the con"dence that actual operational
conditions will be reproduced. Once a wind tunnel is built, the "rst step is the
evaluation of the #ow characteristics and of the possibility of reproducing or achiev-
ing the #ow characteristics for which the tunnel was designed.
The UNNE Wind Tunnel, located at the Northeast National University at Re-
sisteH ncia (Chaco), Argentina, is a low velocity atmospheric boundary-layer wind
0167-6105/00/$- see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 6 1 0 5 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 1 0 - 5
Nomenclature
f Frequency (Hz)
I

Local turbulence intensity

k Von KaH rmaH n constant (k"0, 4)

Longitudinal integral length parameter (m)

Re Reynolds number
S Model scale factor of a boundary-layer simulation
t Time (s)
u>

Mean dimensionless velocity (;/;

)
u>

Dimensionless velocity (;/;(z

))
;M Time-averaged local #ow velocity (m/s)
;M

Reference velocity (m/s)

;M(z

) Velocity at gradient height (m/s)

;M(10) Velocity at 10 m height (m/s)
x Coordinate in #ow direction (m)
y Coordinate transverse to #ow direction (m)
z Vertical coordinate (m)
z

>
Gradient height (m)
z

Dimensionless height (z/z

)
z
"
Roughness length parameter in law of the wall (m)
z

Zero-plane displacement in law of the wall (m)

Power-law exponent

S
Autospectral density of the longitudinal velocity #uctuation (m/s)`/Hz
Density (kg/m`)
`
S
Variance of u (m/s)`

S
Standard deviation of u (m/s)
Kinematic viscosity (m`/s)
tunnel, built with the aim to perform aerodynamic studies of structural models. The
distribution of the #ow impinging on the structural model must be such that the
atmospheric boundary layer at the actual location is reproduced. This is obtained
with help of turbulence promoters and vortex generators, so that natural wind
simulations are performed.
The open literature presents many evaluation studies of wind tunnels, some of
which are the tunnel in Garston, Watford, UK [1], the closed-loop wind tunnel in
London [2], where the so-called Counihan-method for boundary-layer simulation
was developed [3], Oxford, UK [4], the TV2 Wind Tunnel at Porto Alegre [5] and of
Langby, Denmark [6]. A partial mapping of the velocity "eld in the UNNE Wind
Tunnel was presented by De Bortoli et al. [7].
In general, tunnel evaluation is performed at the highest #ow velocity, the results
being presented in terms of mean velocity distributions, turbulence intensities and
scales. Boundary-layer simulations are performed with help of grids, vortex
308 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
generators and roughness elements, to facilitate the growth of the boundary layer.
This is used in the most applied simulation methods, namely the full-depth simulation
[3] and part-depth simulation [8]. The use of jets and grids is also applied [5].
The purpose of this paper is to present results of measurements performed to
evaluate the characteristics of the UNNE Wind Tunnel and to verify its applicability
to similarity studies in structural models and to simulate the atmospheric boundary
layer, as described in greater detail in Wittwer [9].
2. Experimental technique
Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of the UNNE Wind Tunnel, which is a 39.56 m long
channel. The air enters through a contraction, passing a honeycomb and a screen
prior to reach the test section, which is a 22.8 m long rectangular channel (2.40 m
width, 1.80 m height) where two rotating tables are located to place structural models.
The upper wall can be displaced vertically to allow conditions of zero pressure
gradient boundary layers. The test section is connected to the velocity regulator and
this in turn to the blower, which has a 2.25 m diameter and is driven by a 92 kW
electric motor at 720 rpm. The air passes through a di!user before leaving the wind
tunnel.
The simulation of natural wind on the atmospheric boundary layer was performed
by means of the Counihan and Standen methods with velocity distributions corre-
sponding, according to Brazilian Standard NBR-6123 [10], to a Class IV ground,
de"ned as `ground covered by several closely spaced obstacles in forest, industrial or
urban territorya. The mean height of the obstacles is considered to be about 10 m,
while the boundary layer thickness is z

"420 m. Similar classi"cation is given by

Argentine Standards CIRSOC 102 [11] as a class III ground. The potential law for
velocity distribution is given by
;M(z)/;M(z

)"(z/z

)?, (1)
and
;M(z)/;M(10)"(z/10)? (2)
with suitable values for the exponent between 0.23 and 0.28 [12]. This law is of good
application in neutral stability conditions of strong winds, typical for structural
analysis.
For Counihan full-depth simulation, where the complete boundary-layer thickness
is simulated, four 1.42 m high elliptic vortex generators and a 0.23 m barrier were
used, together with prismatic (30;30 mm base, 22 mm height) elements, 80 mm apart
placed on the test section #oor along 17 m.
Standen part-depth simulation method was implemented with the same roughness
elements used in Counihan method and two 1.5 m spires as vortex generators, to
simulate the lowest part of the boundary-layer thickness.
Scale factors of both atmospheric boundary-layer simulations is determined
through the procedure proposed by Cook [13], by means of the roughness length
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 309
F
i
g
.
1
.
T
h
e
W
i
n
d
T
u
n
n
e
l
o
f
t
h
e
U
N
N
E
.
310 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
Table 1
Data acquisition conditions for spectral analysis
Low frequency Mean frequency High frequency
Ampli"cation rate 50 50 50
Low-pass "lter (Hz) 100 300 1000
High-pass "lter (Hz) 0.3 0.3 0.3
Sampling frequency (Hz) 300 900 3000
Sample size 32 000 32 000 32 000
Sampling time (s) 106.7 35.6 10.7
Number of blocks 124 124 124
Block size 256 256 256
Bandwidth (Hz) 1.132 3.516 11.719
z
"
and the integral scale

as parameters. The values of the roughness length are

obtained by "tting experimental values of velocity to the logarithmic law of the wall,
while integral scale is given by "tting the values of the measured spectrum to the
design spectrum. The height of the roughness elements is constant, but the integral
scale depends on the height z and the roughness length z
"
, which according to ESDU
(Engineering Sciences Data Unit) data, given by Cook [13], follows the expression

"25(z!z

)"``z"""`
"
. (3)
Substituting full-scale values by the product of the scale factor S by the model-scale
values, results in
S
`
"25[S(z!z

)
`
]"``[Sz
"`
]"""`. (4)
Subscript M denotes model values.
Thus, scale factor is determined as a function of model-scale values.
Mean velocity measurements were performed by means of a Pitot}Prandtl tube
connected to a van Essen Betz-type manometer. Before starting each measurement the
hot wire probe was calibrated. Velocity and longitudinal velocity #uctuations were
measured by a Dantec 56 constant temperature hot wire anemometry bridge, with
a true-RMS voltmeter, connected to an Stanford SR560 ampli"er with low and
high-pass analogic "lters. Data acquisition of hot wire signals was made with help of
a Keithley DAS-1600 A/D converter board controlled by a personal computer which
was also used for the evaluation of the results.
Voltage output from hot wires was evaluated to obtain velocity and velocity
#uctuations [14,15]. Prior measurements in a pipe #ow showed the adequacy of the
calibration and evaluation technique [9].
Spectral results from longitudinal velocity #uctuations were obtained by juxtaposi-
ng three di!erent spectra from three di!erent sampling series, obtained in the same
location, each with a sampling frequency, as given in Table 1, as low, mean and high
frequencies. The series were divided in blocks to which an FFT algorithm was applied
[16].
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 311
Table 2
Flow characteristics for Counihan simulation
y"0 y"0.30 m y"!0.30 m
z

(m) 1.164 1.164 1.164

;

(m/s) 27.507 28.183 27.755

Re 2.066;10" 2.116;10" 2.084;10"
0.2697 0.2649 0.2699
Fig. 2. Mean dimensionless velocity at Table 2.
3. Results
3.1. Empty tunnel
Mean dimensionless velocity pro"les measured with the empty tunnel along a verti-
cal line on the center of the rotating Table 2 and at positions 0.6 m to the right and left
of this line are presented in Fig. 2. The boundary layer has a thickness of about 0.3 m
and the velocity values have a maximal deviation of 3%, by taking the velocity at the
center of the channel as reference.
312 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
Fig. 3. Turbulence intensity at Table 2.
Turbulence intensity distribution at the same locations, presented in Fig. 3, shows
values around 1% outside the boundary layer increasing, as expected, inside the
boundary layer. The measurements at the central position show values of about 3%
turbulence intensity near the upper wall but outside of the boundary layer.
Reference velocity for both Figs. 2 and 3 is the velocity at the center of the channel,
27 m/s, the resulting Reynolds number being, calculated with the tunnel hydraulical
diameter, 3.67;10".
3.2. Counihan method
Measurement of the mean velocity distribution was made along a vertical line
on the center of rotating Table 2 and along lines 0.3 m to the right and left of this line.
Fig. 4 shows the velocity distribution along the central line. Flow characteristics are
presented in Table 2. There is a good similarity among the velocity pro"les given by
the values of the exponent obtained.
Turbulence intensity distribution at the same locations are shown in Fig. 5. The
values are lower than those obtained by Cook [13] and by using Harris}Davenport
formula for atmospheric boundary layer [12]. Values are reduced as the distance from
the lower wall is increased. This is also observed in the spectra of the velocity
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 313
Fig. 4. Mean velocity distribution at central position with the Counihan method.
#uctuation, Fig. 6. An important characteristic of the spectra is the presence of a clear
region with a !`
`
declivity, characterizing Kolmogorov's inertial subrange, which is
of great importance in the structural analysis.
The comparison of the results obtained through the simulations with the atmo-
spheric boundary layer is made by means of dimensionless variables of the autospec-
tral density f
S
/`
S
and of the frequency fz

/;. The usual design spectrum is the

so-called von KaH rmaH n spectrum [12], given by (Fig. 7)
f
S
`
"
1.6fz

/;M
[1#11.325( fz

/;M)`]`"
. (5)
This dimensionless spectral function is de"ned by dividing the autospectral density
function by the variance ` of the velocity #uctuation. Kolmogorov's spectrum will
have, therefore, a !`
`
exponent instead of !`
`
. The agreement is very good, except for
the highest frequencies a!ected by Heisenberg's viscous dissipation subrange or by the
action of the low-pass "lters.
A scale factor of 250 for this boundary layer simulation was obtained through the
method proposed by Cook [13].
314 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
Fig. 5. Turbulence intensity distribution at central position with the Counihan method.
3.3. Standen method
Measurement of the mean velocity distribution was made along a vertical line
on the center of rotating Table 2 and along lines 0.6 m to the right and left of this line.
Fig. 8 shows the velocity distribution along the central line. Flow characteristics are
presented in Table 3. There is, again, a good similarity among the velocity pro"les
given by the values of the exponent obtained.
Values of turbulence intensity distribution at the same locations, shown in Fig. 9
are similar to those obtained by the Counihan method, with values lower than
those given by the Harris}Davenport formula for atmospheric boundary layer
[12], which are reduced as the distance from the lower wall is increased. This is
also observed in the spectra of the velocity #uctuation, Fig. 10, with a clear region
with a !`
`
declivity. The same comments can be made about von KaH rmaH n spectrum,
Fig. 11.
For this boundary-layer simulation, a scale factor of 150 was obtained through the
method proposed by Cook [13].
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 315
Fig. 6. Autospectral density of the longitudinal velocity #uctuation by the Counihan method.
Fig. 7. Autospectral density of the longitudinal velocity #uctuation by the Counihan method obtained at
z"23.3 cm and Von KaH rmaH n design spectrum.
316 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
Fig. 8. Mean velocity distribution at central position with the Standen method.
Table 3
Flow characteristics for the Standen simulation
y"0 y"0.60 m y"!0.60 m
z

(m) 1.214 1.214 1.214

;

(m/s) 25.602 24.761 25.716

Re 2.066;10" 1.940;10" 2.014;10"
0.249 0.244 0.225
4. Conclusions
The purpose of this research work was the evaluation of the low-speed Wind
Tunnel of the UNNE to verify its adequacy for structural analysis applications.
Measurements of velocity and turbulence intensities in the empty tunnel showed an
uniform velocity "eld and low turbulence intensities.
Results of Counihan and Standen natural wind simulations for an ABNT-NBR
6123 Class IV ground (Brazilian Standards), similar to a CIRSOC 102 class III
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 317
Fig. 9. Turbulence intensity distribution at central position and two lateral positions with the Standen method.
Fig. 10. Autospectral density of the longitudinal velocity #uctuation by the Standen method.
318 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320
Fig. 11. Autospectral density of the longitudinal velocity #uctuation by the Standen method obtained at
z"23.3 cm and Von KaH rmaH n design spectrum.
ground (Argentinian Standards) showed good reproduction of the velocity pro"les
and turbulence intensities. Turbulence spectra of the longitudinal velocity #uctuations
present, in general a very clear region with a !`
`
exponent (Kolmogorov's inertial
subrange) which is important from the structural analysis point of view. The repro-
duction of a typical design spectrum, this being von KaH rmaH n spectrum, is also, in
general, very good.
The Wind Tunnel of the UNNE is, therefore, a very tool for natural wind simula-
tions for structural analysis.
Future work will consider the evaluation of the #ow conditions in Table 1 as well as
other types of grounds.
References
[1] N.J. Cook, A boundary layer wind tunnel for building aerodynamics, J. Ind. Aerodyn. 1 (1975) 3}12.
[2] D.M. Sykes, A new wind tunnel for industrial aerodynamics, J. Ind. Aerodyn. 2 (1977) 65}78.
[3] J. Counihan, An improved method of simulating an atmospheric boundary layer in a wind tunnel,
Atmos. Environ. 3 (1969) 197}214.
[4] M. Greenway, C. Wood, The Oxford University 4m;2mindustrial aerodynamics wind tunnel, J. Ind.
Aerodyn. 4 (1979) 43}70.
[5] J. Blessmann, The boundary layer TV2 wind tunnel of the UFRGS, J. Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 10 (1982)
231}248.
[6] S. Hansen, E. Sorensen, A new boundary layer wind tunnel at the Danish Maritime Institute, J. Wind
Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 18 (1985) 213}224.
[7] M. De Bortoli, M. Natalini, M. Paluch, Relevamiento en vacio del tunel de viento de la UNNE, XV,
J. Argentinas Ingenieria Estrutural 2 (1996) 360}368.
A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320 319
[8] M.M. Standen, A spire array for generating thick turbulent shear layers for natural wind simulation
in wind tunnels, National Research Council of Canada, NAE Report LTR-LA-94, 1972.
[9] A.R. Wittwer, AnaH lisis Experimental de las CharactermH sticas del Escurrimiento Turbulento en la CaH pa
LmH mite de un TuH nel de Viento, Tesis de Maestria, Facultad de Inegenieria de la Universidad Nacional
del Nordeste, UNNE, Resistencia (Chaco), Argentina, 1997.
[10] Associac7 a o Brasileira de Normas de Normas TeH cnicas (ABNT) NBR 6123: Forc7 as devidas ao vento
em edi"cac7 o es, Rio de Janeiro, 1988.
[11] Centro de InvestigacioH n de los Reglamientos Nacionales de Seguridad para las Obras Civiles
(CIRSOC), INTI, Reglamento CIRSOC 102, 1982.
[12] J. Blessmann, O Vento na Engenharia Estrutural, Editora da Universidade, UFRGS, Porto Alegre,
1995.
[13] N.J. Cook, Determination of the model scale factor in wind tunnel simulations of the adiabatic
atmospheric boundary-layer, J. Ind. Aerodyn. 2 (1978) 311}321.
[14] L. VosaH hlo, Computer programs for evaluation of turbulence characteristics from hot-wire measure-
ments, KfK 3743, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, 1984.
[15] S.V. MoK ller, Experimentelle Untersuchung der VorgaK nge in engen Spalten zwischen den Unter-
kanaK len von StabbuK ndeln bei turbulenter StroK mung, Dissertation, UniversitaK t Karlsruhe (TH),
Karlsruhe, RFA, 1988, also KfK 4501, 1989.
[16] W.H. Press, B.P. Flannery, S.A. Teukolsky, W.T. Vetterling, Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scienti"c
Computing, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990.
320 A.R. Wittwer, S.V. Mo( ller / J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerodyn. 84 (2000) 307}320