Wind Tunnel Simulation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer for Studying the Wind Pattern at <i>Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara</i>

Avelar, Ana Cristina; Brasileiro, Fabrício Lamosa Carneiro; Marto, Adolfo Gomes; Marciotto, Edson R.; Fisch, Gilberto; Faria, Amanda Fellipe

doi:10.5028/jatm.2012.04044912

Abstract:

Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara is the main Brazilian launching center. In spite of presenting several desirable aspects, due to its proximity to the Equator, it has a peculiar topography because of the existence of a coastal cliff, which modifies the characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer. This may affect rocket-launching operations, especially when associated with safety procedures. This work is a continuation of previous experimental studies about the airflow pattern at this launching center. An improved way of simulating the atmospheric boundary layer in a short-test section wind tunnel using passive methods is presented here. It is also presented a preliminary analysis of the airflow pattern in Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, at specific positions as the edge of cliff and around the mobile integration tower, from wind tunnel measurements using particle image velocimetry. Three values of Reynolds number, based on the coastal cliff height, l, ranging from 6.8×105 to 2.0×106, were considered.

Keywords:
Atmospheric Flow; Wind Tunnel; Boundary Layer; Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara

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REFERENCES

Arya, S.P., 2001, "Introduction to Micrometeorology", Academic Press, USA, 2001, 2nd edition.
Avelar, A.C. et al, 2012, "Atmospheric Boundary Layer Simulation in a Wind Tunnel for Analysis of the Wind Flow at the Centro de Lançamentode Alcântara", 4th AIAA Atmospheric and Space Environments Conference 25-28, New Orleans, Louisiana, AIAA paper 2012-2930.
Avelar, A.C. et al, 2010, "Simulation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in a Closed Circuit Wind Tunnel with Short Test Section", 27th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Tecnology and Ground Testing Conference, Chicago, AIAA paper AIAA-2010-4343.
Barbosa, P.H.A. et al, 2000, "Simulation of atmospheric boundary layer flows in short wind tunnels", Proceedings of do XI CBMET 2000, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Barbosa, P.H.A. et al, 2002, "Wind Tunnel Simulation of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows", Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 177-185.
Blessmann, J., 1973, "Simulação da estrutura do vento natural em um túnel de vento aerodinâmico", Tese (Doutor em Ciências), Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronaútica - ITA, São José dos Campos, Brazil, 169 p.
Counihan, J., 1969, "An improved method of simulating an atmospheric boundary layer in a wind tunnel", Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 3, pp. 197-214.
Fisch, G. et al, 2010, "The Internal Boundary Layer at the Alcântara Space Center: Winds Measurements, Wind Tunnel Experiments and Numeric Simulations," Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2010) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA May 23-27.
Garratt, J.R., 1994, "The Atmospheric Boundary Layer", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, USA, 316 p.
H'su, S.A., 1988, "Coastal Meteorology", Academic Press, San Diego, 260 p.
Hsu, A.S. et al, 1994, "Determining the Power-Law Wind-Profile Exponent under Near-Neutral Stability Conditions at Sea", Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 757-765.
Hunt, J.C.R. and Fernholz, H., 1975, "Wind-tunnel simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer: a report on Euromech 50", The Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 70, pp. 543-559. Vol. 7, pp. 361-366.
Larose, G. and D'Auteuil, A. 2006, "On the Reynolds number sensitivity of the aerodynamics of bluff bodies with Sharp edges", Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 94, pp. 365-376.
Ligrani, P.M. et al, 1979, "The Thermal and Hydrodynamic Behavior of Thick Rough-Wall Turbulent Boundary Layers", Report No HMT-29, Stanford University.
Ligrani, P.M. et al, 1983, "Artificially Thickened Turbulent Boundary Layers for Studying Heat Transfer and Skin-Friction on Rough Surfaces", Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol. 105, pp. 146-153.
Loredo-Souza, A.C. et al, 2004, "Simulação da Camada Limite Atmosférica em Túnel de Vento," Turbulência, Vol. 4, pp. 137-160.
Marciotto, E.R. et al, 2012, "Characterization of Surface Level Wind at the Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara for Use in Rocket Structure Loading and Dispersion Studies", Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 69-79.
Pires, L.M.B. et al, 2008, "Experimentos em Túnel de Vento da Camada Limite Interna no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara", Proceedings of Escola de Primavera de Transição e Turbulência, EPTT 2008, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Pires, L.B.M., 2009, "Estudo da Camada Limite Interna Desenvolvida em Falésias com Aplicação para o Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara", Tese (Doutorado em Meteorologia), National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, 150 p.
Pires, L.B.M. et al, 2010, "Atmospheric Flow Measurements Using the PIV and HWA Techniques", Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 127-136.
Wittwer, A. R., et al, 2012, "Avaliação Experimental do Escoamento Atmosférico no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara Usando Modelos Topográficos em Escala Reduzida", Proceedings of the VIII Escola de Primavera de Transição e Turbulência, 24 a 28 de setembro de 2012, São Paulo - SP, Brazil.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Oct-Dec 2012

History

Received
04 Sept 2012
Accepted
10 Oct 2012

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[1] Arya, S.P., 2001, "Introduction to Micrometeorology", Academic Press, USA, 2001, 2nd edition.

[2] Avelar, A.C. et al, 2012, "Atmospheric Boundary Layer Simulation in a Wind Tunnel for Analysis of the Wind Flow at the Centro de Lançamentode Alcântara", 4th AIAA Atmospheric and Space Environments Conference 25-28, New Orleans, Louisiana, AIAA paper 2012-2930.

[3] Avelar, A.C. et al, 2010, "Simulation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer in a Closed Circuit Wind Tunnel with Short Test Section", 27th AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Tecnology and Ground Testing Conference, Chicago, AIAA paper AIAA-2010-4343.

[4] Barbosa, P.H.A. et al, 2000, "Simulation of atmospheric boundary layer flows in short wind tunnels", Proceedings of do XI CBMET 2000, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[5] Barbosa, P.H.A. et al, 2002, "Wind Tunnel Simulation of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows", Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 177-185.

[6] Blessmann, J., 1973, "Simulação da estrutura do vento natural em um túnel de vento aerodinâmico", Tese (Doutor em Ciências), Instituto Tecnológico da Aeronaútica - ITA, São José dos Campos, Brazil, 169 p.

[7] Counihan, J., 1969, "An improved method of simulating an atmospheric boundary layer in a wind tunnel", Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 3, pp. 197-214.

[8] Fisch, G. et al, 2010, "The Internal Boundary Layer at the Alcântara Space Center: Winds Measurements, Wind Tunnel Experiments and Numeric Simulations," Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2010) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA May 23-27.

[9] Garratt, J.R., 1994, "The Atmospheric Boundary Layer", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, USA, 316 p.

[10] H'su, S.A., 1988, "Coastal Meteorology", Academic Press, San Diego, 260 p.

[11] Hsu, A.S. et al, 1994, "Determining the Power-Law Wind-Profile Exponent under Near-Neutral Stability Conditions at Sea", Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 757-765.

[12] Hunt, J.C.R. and Fernholz, H., 1975, "Wind-tunnel simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer: a report on Euromech 50", The Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 70, pp. 543-559. Vol. 7, pp. 361-366.

[13] Larose, G. and D'Auteuil, A. 2006, "On the Reynolds number sensitivity of the aerodynamics of bluff bodies with Sharp edges", Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Vol. 94, pp. 365-376.

[14] Ligrani, P.M. et al, 1979, "The Thermal and Hydrodynamic Behavior of Thick Rough-Wall Turbulent Boundary Layers", Report No HMT-29, Stanford University.

[15] Ligrani, P.M. et al, 1983, "Artificially Thickened Turbulent Boundary Layers for Studying Heat Transfer and Skin-Friction on Rough Surfaces", Journal of Fluids Engineering, Vol. 105, pp. 146-153.

[16] Loredo-Souza, A.C. et al, 2004, "Simulação da Camada Limite Atmosférica em Túnel de Vento," Turbulência, Vol. 4, pp. 137-160.

[17] Marciotto, E.R. et al, 2012, "Characterization of Surface Level Wind at the Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara for Use in Rocket Structure Loading and Dispersion Studies", Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 69-79.

[18] Pires, L.M.B. et al, 2008, "Experimentos em Túnel de Vento da Camada Limite Interna no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara", Proceedings of Escola de Primavera de Transição e Turbulência, EPTT 2008, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.

[19] Pires, L.B.M., 2009, "Estudo da Camada Limite Interna Desenvolvida em Falésias com Aplicação para o Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara", Tese (Doutorado em Meteorologia), National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, 150 p.

[20] Pires, L.B.M. et al, 2010, "Atmospheric Flow Measurements Using the PIV and HWA Techniques", Journal of Aerospace Technology and Management, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 127-136.

[21] Wittwer, A. R., et al, 2012, "Avaliação Experimental do Escoamento Atmosférico no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara Usando Modelos Topográficos em Escala Reduzida", Proceedings of the VIII Escola de Primavera de Transição e Turbulência, 24 a 28 de setembro de 2012, São Paulo - SP, Brazil.

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Wind Tunnel Simulation of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer for Studying the Wind Pattern at Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara

Abstract:

REFERENCES

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