Predictions of Wind-Induced Snow Redistribution on Long-Span Building Roofs Using Two-Way Coupled Simulations
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 38, Issue 4
Abstract
The numerical simulation of wind-induced snowdrift often employs a one-way coupled scheme that neglects the interaction between moving snow particles and turbulent wind. However, this approach can result in significant errors when the mass concentration of snowdrift near the snow surface is high. To address this issue, a modified two-way coupled scheme for simulating three-dimensional wind-induced snowdrift was developed. This scheme reasonably considers the interaction between snow particles and turbulent wind and introduces a double-loop nested framework. To illustrate the effectiveness of this method, a simulation was conducted for large-scale wind and snow fields on the roof of a terminal building in northwest China. The results were compared with field observation data of snow depth, demonstrating the applicability and superiority of the proposed method. The modified two-way coupled scheme was shown to provide a more accurate simulation of wind-induced snowdrift compared to the one-way coupled scheme. Based on this improved accuracy, predictions of wind-induced snow redistribution on the building roof were made, considering a 100-year return period for wind and snow loads. These predictions are crucial for the safety design of long-span roof structures in cold regions.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and codes generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The support from the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0803300) is highly appreciated.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- A0
- empirical coefficient of snow erosion/deposition;
- A
- area of obstacle related to drag force;
- a
- local speed of sound;
- Cf
- aerodynamic drag coefficient of the moving obstacle;
- DP
- particle size of the snow particle;
- Dt
- coefficient of turbulent diffusion;
- g
- gravitational acceleration constant;
- Η
- dimensional effectiveness factor;
- Hsal
- height of the saltation layer;
- h
- snow depth;
- I
- turbulence intensity;
- k
- turbulence kinetic energy;
- Mt
- turbulent Mach number;
- Pg
- surface pressure;
- Prt
- turbulent Prandtl number for energy;
- mean wind pressure;
- Qsal
- saltation transport rate;
- Sflux
- flux of snow erosion/deposition on the domain boundary;
- Sij
- mean rate-of-strain tensor;
- T
- temperature;
- Usal
- mean wind speed in the saltation layer;
- U0
- mean wind speed at height 10 m;
- mean wind component;
- fluctuating wind component;
- u*
- friction velocity;
- nonerodable friction velocity;
- threshold friction velocity;
- wind velocity at height z;
- V
- fluid volume within unit volume;
- wf
- snowfall velocity;
- xi
- spatial position components;
- YM
- contribution of fluctuating dilatation to the overall dissipation rate;
- Zg
- atmospheric boundary-layer height;
- z0
- roughness length;
- Φ
- mass concentration of snowdrift;
- α
- geomorphic parameter;
- β
- coefficient of thermal expansion;
- ε
- turbulence dissipation rate;
- δij
- Kronecker's delta;
- κ
- von Karman's constant;
- μ
- aerodynamic viscosity;
- μt
- flow dynamic viscosity;
- vt
- flow kinematic viscosity;
- ρ
- flow density;
- ρs
- snow density; and
- φ
- flux of snow erosion/deposition.
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Received: Aug 16, 2023
Accepted: Jun 11, 2024
Published online: Sep 12, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 12, 2025
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