Wind effects on a hemispherical dome

Abstract

A review of the past wind tunnel experiments involving the measurement of pressures over the surface of a hemispherical dome is made, and the flow parameters of these experiments are compared. A hemispherical dome is subjected to a flow in the open-throat wind tunnel at VPI&SU, and the resulting pressure measurements are given. An experiment utilizing the 6-ft square stability wind tunnel at VPI&SU to measure the pressures over the surface of a hemispherical dome is organized but not conducted. ABAQUS, a nonlinear finite element program, is used to analyze a hemispherical, lamella dome subjected to a wind load. The dome is first modeled by using truss elements and then beam elements. A comparison of the two models is made.