Devon Tower OKC Forensics Analysis
Devon Tower OKC Forensics Analysis
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A CFD forensics investigation into the Devon Tower's upper facade design and whether it was capable of behaving like a nozzle in certain conditions after a safety incident saw a crane basket immobilised due to unexpected high gusts of winds, leaving the crew trapped over 230m up and swinging into the building.
To study this, a 1km radius of the surround was studied, with local airport data spanning years providing input conditions. Rotational sweeps of the wind direction then allowed for assess if this nozzle effect was possible in the right condition.
Devon Tower and surrounding city fluid flow
Devon Tower roof slice with jetting visible at facade gap
The group of simulations was able to confirm the expected nozzle effect occurring due to the facade design.
A local increase in velocity that greatly exceeds the freestream can be observed in the animation.
Arecibo Observatory (Golden Eye Telescope)
All 3 structures making up the Arecibo Observatory Telescope
Solved fluid flow field - velocity magnitude
Complex Fluid Structure Interaction problem, concerning the collapse of the famous Arecibo Observatory. This forensics problem looked at the high gusts of wind sustained by the structure prior to its collapse and tying this into its frequency response to get a time-dependent output of the loading and moments endured.
Global Malting Company's Kiln Thermal Assessment
Heat flow out prior to any suggestions.
Heat flow out after making geometry suggestions improving heating efficiency.
This project focused on a client's ability to make significant energy savings through moderate design changes, reducing losses through heating inefficiencies.
The top image shows the poor exhaust performance, with large separations resulting in less than ideal heating of the kiln. Design constraints meant that only minor modifications could be assessed, in this case grill designs – the result of these was improved exhaust by around 30%
NIO Aeroacoustics
NIO ET5 in wind tunnel
Employing CFD external aerodynamics techniques to vehicles, then applying complex SEA models to these CFD results to predict panel excitations and noise transmission paths due to turbulence.
By making necessary modifications to the wing mirrors, bonnet trailing edge, etc, interior noise for the occupants can be reduced improving user comport and overall experience.
Formula Student/FSAE Aero Package
HWRacing Developmental Aero Package
Three-piece aero kit developed for HWRacing to assess potential performance gains
As the team's first foray into aerodynamics, this package was designed to be conservative with thoughts given to adjustability and manufacturability.
CFD studies included simulating the car at various attitudes experienced during dynamic events to ensure CoP shifts were not drastic and separations minimal.
Final results saw a decrease in simulated lap-time of 3.35% as the package generated over 450N downforce at 15m/s in CFD studies, with the rear wing's surface flow validated in a small-scale wind tunnel test.
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