NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF WIND LOADS ON LARGE STEEL TANKS

摘要

Numerical simulation method was used to evaluate the average wind load on large steel tanks. The wind pressure distributions on the cylindrical shell were obtained and compared with the data obtained from wind tunnel experiments and recommended by the load code of China. Results show that the simulation solutions agree well with the wind tunnel test results as well as the values specified by the load code of China, implying the feasibility of CFD method for the prediction of the wind loads on large steel tanks. The effects of the aspect ratio (height-todiameter ratio for the cylindrical part) and the roof type on the wind pressure distributions of the cylindrical wall are investigated. It is shown that, the magnitudes of shape factor of cylindrical part increase with the increasing aspect ratio, while the roof type have no considerable influence on the pressure distributions of cylindrical wall except the open-top tanks.