Browsing by Author "Ghosh, Debasish"

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    Aerodynamic investigation of cylindrical and y-shaped building structures
    Ghosh, Debasish (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1982)
    An aerodynamic investigation of cylindrical and Y-shaped building structures was carried out. Specific emphasis was directed towards determining the pressure distribution over three configurations: a flat top, a single dome and a dome with a counter-dome. The Y-model was tested in all three configurations while the cylindrical model was tested in dome/counter-dome configuration only. Both models were tested at Reynolds number(Re) of 360000 and 720000. Surface flow visualization was carried out to reveal regions of separation, recirculation and reattachment. It was found that a large region of negative pressure can be achieved with the dome counter-dome configuration. The maximum negative Cp for this configuration was about 50% higher than the maximum value observed with the flat top or single dome configuration. When the gap between the dome was decreased the maximum negative Cp increased; the increment being greater at the lower Re. Also, for the same Re and gap, the dome with higher curvature showed higher maximum negative Cp; the difference being more pronounced at the lower Re. The effect on the pressure distribution of an opening in the center of the lower dome and of an air flow through that opening was also investigated. It was observed that for injection rates corresponding to typical design flow rates required for ventilation of tall full scale buildings, the pressure distribution remains essentially unaltered.
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    Optimal control of wave-induced vibrations in semisubmersible structures with flexible superstructures
    Ghosh, Debasish (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986)
    This dissertation is concerned with controlling the motion of a semisubmersible structure induced by high-frequency waves. The structure consists of a rigid platform and a flexible superstructure. Motion of a structure in fluids generates forces depending on the motion itself. The added mass and damping terms stemming from this motion depend on the frequency of motion. It is well known that for a given wave height, the wave energy is distributed according to a Rayleigh distribution. Because mass and damping terms vary with the frequency of the wave motion, there is an infinite number of sets of dynamical equations, one for each frequency in the Rayleigh distribution. Practical considerations make it necessary to discretize the frequency spectrum, so that there are as many dynamical equations as frequency increments. The center frequency in each increment is computed by equipartitioning of the wave energy distribution represented by a Bretschneider spectrum. The excitation forces are estimated for each increment and the design of optimal control is carried out by the Independent Modal-Space Control (IMSC) method. The net control forces can be found by summing the forces associated with each increment. The technique is demonstrated by means of a numerical example in which the wave-induced vibration of a cylindrical platform with a flexible cantilever beam is suppressed.