Numerical simulations of impinging jets with application to downbursts

https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:8945/ES-downburst.pdf

Numerical and analytical simulation of downburst wind loads

Pressure distributions on a cube in a simulated thunderstorm downburst—Part A: stationary downburst observations

Experimental measurement and numerical simulation of an impinging jet with application to thunderstorm microburst winds

Thunderstorms—their importance in wind engineering (a case for the next generation wind tunnel)

A microburst can be modeled by releasing a volume of fluid that is slightly heavier than the ambient fluid, allowing it to fall onto a horizontal surface. Vorticity develops on the sides of this parcel as it descends and causes it to roll up into a turbulent vortex ring which impinges on the ground. Such a model exhibits many of the features of naturally occurring microbursts which are a hazard to aviation. In this paper this model is achieved experimentally by releasing a volume of salt water into fresh water from a cylindrical dispenser. When care is taken with the release the spreading rate of the surface outflow is measurable and quite repeatable despite the fact that the flow is turbulent. An elementary numerical approximation to this model, based on inviscid vortex dynamics, has also been developed. A scaling law is proposed which allows experiments with different fluid densities to be compared with each other and with the numerical results. More importantly the scaling law makes it possible to compare the model results with real microbursts.

J. Yao

Papers

Microburst modelling and scaling