Wind tunnel test and finite element analysis of a hyperbolic cooling tower

A small-scale model for a hyperbolic cooling tower has been developed and tested in the boundary layer wind tunnel laboratory at the University of Western Ontario. The spatial and time history variation for the wind pressure along the surface of the shell is predicted by the wind tunnel test. A detailed finite element model for the full-scale tower was then created. The finite element model is based on a degenerated shell element developed in house. The pressure distribution along the surface of the tower, obtained from the wind tunnel test, was then implemented into the numerical finite element model. A non-linear dynamic time history analysis was conducted to predict the structural behaviour of the hyperbolic cooling tower under wind loading. The study describes the behaviour of hyperbolic shell structures under the effect of wind load and highlights the factors that have to be taken into consideration when designing such structures.