NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF WIND PRESSURE COEFFICIENTS ON SCALLOP DOME

The wind loads considerably influence lightweight spatial structures. An example of spatial structures is scallop domes that contain various configurations and forms and the wind impact on a scallop dome is more complex due to its additional curvature. In our work, the wind pressure coefficient (Cp ) on the scallop dome surface is studied numerically and experimentally. Firstly, the programming language Formian-K is used for generating the scallop dome configuration. Then, the scallop dome scale model is designed using a CAD/CAM system, and it is constructed in fiberglass. Afterward, the wind tunnel of the atmospheric boundary layer is presented, and the scale model is applied for performing the tests so that the Cp  is obtained. The scallop dome scale model was taken into account in numerical investigation. For simulation of the turbulent flow, Large Eddy Simulation (LES), Reynolds Stress Turbulence Model (RSM), the k-ε RNG, and k-omega Shear Stress Transport (k-ω SST) approaches were used. Lastly, we compared the wind pressure coefficients obtained by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with the results of the experimental investigation. As indicated by the results, the LES method, particularly, RSM model, can be applied because of lower computational costs for the analysis of other scallop dome configurations for obtaining Cp .