Climatic Wind Tunnel

About Climatic Wind Tunnel

A high-performance climatic wind tunnel designed for full-scale aerodynamic and environmental testing of structural cables and similar components under controlled wind, rain, and icing conditions.

 Technical Overview

• Application: Full-scale testing of bridge cables, stay cables, structural elements
• Test Media: Wind, rain, freezing conditions, ice accretion simulation
• Flow Type: Controlled, uniform airflow for aerodynamic studies
• Scale: Full-scale (no geometric scaling required for cables)

Aerodynamic Performance

• Maximum Wind Speed: up to 32 m/s
• Variable Flow Range: ~032 m/s (continuously adjustable)
• Flow Stability: High uniformity for repeatable aerodynamic loading conditions

Thermal & Climatic Control

• Temperature Range:
• Down to 10C at lower wind speeds
• Down to 5C at approximately 25 m/s airflow
• Climate Modes:
• Dry cold airflow
• Rain + wind combination
• Icing / ice accretion conditions

 Icing & Weather Simulation Capabilities

• Controlled ice accretion on cylindrical and cable surfaces
• Simulation of freezing rain and wet snow conditions
• Observation of ice shedding and aerodynamic instability effects
• Realistic reproduction of wind-induced vibration + icing interaction

Testing Capabilities

• Aeroelastic response of long, flexible cables
• Wind-induced vibration (rainwind / vortex shedding effects)
• Ice formation impact on drag, lift, and cable stability
• Safety assessment for ice shedding onto infrastructure below

 Key Advantages

• Full-scale realism eliminates scaling errors
• Direct applicability of results for bridge design
• Supports development of anti-vibration and de-icing measures
• Enables validation of next-generation long-span bridge designs