Interference effects on two adjacent large cooling towers with commonly used tower distances

Wind tunnel tests were employed to study the wind-induced interference effects on two adjacent large cooling towers with different tower distances that are commonly used in engineering practice. The technique of adding roughness on model surface was applied to compensate for the Reynolds number effect due to model-scale tests. The wind tunnel tests of 125 test cases with different tower distances and wind azimuths were carried out. The wind-induced responses of cooling tower were obtained using the Finite Element analysis. The overall wind loads and wind-induced responses with respect to tower distance and wind azimuth were calculated and interference effects on two towers are then studied. Results show that if two towers are in tandem arrangement, the interference factors of along-wind base shear will be greater than 1, which can be considered as results of the Venturi effect. Furthermore, if the tower distance is smaller, the interference effects will be much more significant. Considering the tower distances investigated in the paper, the maximum interference factors based on various effects including overall wind loads and wind-induced responses are about 1.15. The wind azimuth when the interference factors of along-wind base shears and base bending moments reach their maximum values is at about 67.5°. However, the wind azimuth when the interference factors of wind-induced responses reach their maximum values is between 90° and 150° respectively.