Abstract Tornadoes are one of the most pressing research topics in wind engineering due to the extensive damages they impact on infrastructure and the environment. The proper scaling of experimentally produced tornado-like vortices (TLVs) against actual tornadoes is, therefore, a quintessential part of assessing tornadic damages on the built environment. The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome at Western University has already demonstrated its capacity to generate TLVs characterized by length scales in the range between 1:300 and 1:150 by using only a part of the full potential of this simulator. This paper introduces a new experimental mode of the WindEEE Dome operation intending to create larger-scale TLVs in the geometric scaling approximately 1:50. In addition to the six upper fans (source of suction) and the peripheral louvers (source of swirl) that were used in the previous TLV simulations, the new tornado mode of the WindEEE Dome also utilizes the peripheral fans situated along the periphery of the testing chamber as an additional source of angular momentum in the inflow. The simulated TLV is scaled up and compared against published Doppler-radar data of an actual tornado in the United States. Our analyses show that the WindEEE Dome large-scale TLV corresponds to EF0 to EF2-rated twisters in nature. The geometric scale of the produced TLV is ~1:50. This large geometric scale of the TLVs facilitates the experimental investigation of tornadic actions on structures, including aeroelastic testing of wind-structure interactions.

中文翻译：

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大型龙卷风状涡旋的实验研究

摘要 龙卷风对​​基础设施和环境造成广泛的破坏，是风工程中最紧迫的研究课题之一。因此，针对实际龙卷风对实验产生的类似龙卷风的涡旋 (TLV) 进行适当缩放是评估龙卷风对建筑环境造成的破坏的典型部分。西部大学的风力工程、能源和环境 (WindEEE) Dome 已经展示了其仅使用该模拟器全部潜力的一部分即可生成以 1:300 到 1:150 范围内的长度尺度为特征的 TLV 的能力。本文介绍了一种新的 WindEEE Dome 操作实验模式，旨在以大约 1:50 的几何比例创建更大规模的 TLV。除了之前 TLV 模拟中使用的六个上部风扇（吸力源）和外围百叶窗（涡流源）之外，WindEEE Dome 的新龙卷风模式还利用了位于测试外围的外围风扇腔室作为流入中角动量的额外来源。模拟的 TLV 被放大并与美国实际龙卷风的已发布多普勒雷达数据进行比较。我们的分析表明，WindEEE Dome 大型 TLV 对应于 EF0 至 EF2 级的自然界中的捻线机。生成的 TLV 的几何比例为 ~1:50。TLV 的这种大几何尺度有助于对结构上的龙卷风作用进行实验研究，包括风-结构相互作用的气动弹性测试。