Wind Tunnels Applied to Wind Engineering in Japan

Many large boundary layer wind tunnels have been commissioned in Japan over the past 10 years, giving Japan a commanding lead in this area of technology. Some reasons for this extensive building program include the recent concentration of government research institutes at Tsukuba, the increased emphasis on structural and bridge engineering by the heavy industry companies, and the emphasis placed on research by Japanese construction corporations. In general, Japanese universities have not been able to keep pace with the government and private sectors in providing their engineering laboratories with modern and expensive research facilities. Nevertheless, much of the new and exciting work in wind engineering is being done by the universities. The very substantial investment made in boundary layer wind tunnels over the past two years suggests that Japanese heavy industries and construction corporations see a bright future for wind engineering. It is concluded that a significant penetration of the U.S. market for specialized engineering services is likely to occur within the next few years. The paper presents basic dimensions and performance characteristics for several wind tunnels and four new boundary layer wind tunnels are described in detail.