Snowdrift Control Design: Application of CFD Simulation Techniques

• Main Authors: Bill F. Waechter, Raymond J. Sinclair, Glenn D. Schuyler, Colin J. Williams
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: South Pole; Antarc*; Antarctica; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.202.4583; http://www.rwdi.com/User/PDF/P-SnowdriftControl-DesignApplicationofCFD.pdf

ABSTRACT: Computer modelling techniques, employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a finite area element model (FAE), were used to predict snowdrift deposition patterns around a new building at the South Pole Station, Antarctica. Through interpretation of the wind flow field predicted through CFD, snowdrift prone areas around an existing building, that is raised above the snow surface, were identified. The wind flow field, generated by CFD, was subsequently used as input to an FAE computer snowdrift prediction model. The characteristics of the drift deposition patterns predicted by the computer simulation techniques were in satisfactory agreement with snowdrift patterns measured around the existing reference building at the South Pole. It was concluded that the FAE model predicted realistic snowdrift accumulation patterns when CFD-predicted local wind velocity fields were combined with local meteorological data. 1