Simulation of wind characteristics surrounding a container terminal

Metal structures of present port machineries are much more flexible than those decades ago, and are therefore very vulnerable to various wind-induced vibrations, among which the frequently happened random buffeting of structures attracts some special attentions since it contributes pretty much to the early structural fatigue. The intensity of buffeting is closely related to the local surrounding wind field. In this paper, the local wind field of a container port in Shanghai of China was simulated by CFD technique, and the corresponding spatial distribution of wind velocity, turbulence intensity, and wind profile were investigated in detail.