WISE Research Group

Facilities

Where the group tests: the large-scale open-jet hurricane testing facility at LSU and the laboratories used for structural control and wind tunnel work.

The LSU WISE open-jet facility

A wall-free jet with a 4 m by 4 m test section that reproduces complete atmospheric boundary-layer turbulence at Reynolds numbers up to 2.3 × 106, depending on the test model. Its integral length scales are about ten times those of conventional small-scale testing, and its velocity spectra agree well with established formulations. The facility supports testing of buildings, solar arrays and other renewable energy installations, wind turbines, bridges, and power transmission lines. The open-jet setup also allows destructive testing at high wind speeds and makes it easy to add water spray for wind-driven rain studies. Select a photo to enlarge it.

A low-rise building model with rooftop solar panels in front of the open-jet fan array
Inside the open-jet testing hall
A large-scale low-rise building model on the test floor
A bridge-deck sectional model in front of the open-jet fan array
A large-scale mono-slope roof building model
A mono-slope roof building with a rooftop solar panel, instrumented for pressure measurements
A 1:7.5-scale gable-roof model with rooftop PV panels and pressure taps
A full-size tree bending in high wind
Destructive testing at high wind speed
The open-jet testing hall, with a building model in front of the fan array
A cube building model with pressure taps in front of the four large fans
Pressure tubing inside the 1:50 high-rise model
A full-size tree before testing
An instrumented gable roof with pressure tubing (bare roof)
The mono-slope roof building with its rooftop solar panel
Trees and a solar-roof building model in the open jet
A 1:50 high-rise building model with pressure taps in the open jet
Instrumented PV panel and the gable-roof model with PV panels
Smart-structure test setup on a shake table
A cylinder model on the Phase I open-jet table

Open-jet instrumentation includes two Cobra probes for three-component velocity, five accelerometers, two load cells, and a 256-channel pressure measuring system, with a shake table, four MR dampers, and a laser displacement sensor for smart-structure studies.

One facility, many applications

Application areas for large-scale open-jet testing, from a figure in Aly (2023). Select one to see related projects.

One facility, many applicationsThe LSU WISE open-jet facility at the center, linked to seven applications: Urban planning, Façade design, Renewable energy, Aerospace and aviation, Wind–structure interaction, Sustainable infrastructure, STEM collaboration.LSU WISE open jetUrban planningFaçadedesignRenewableenergyAerospaceand aviationWind–structureinteractionSustainableinfrastructureSTEMcollaboration

Redesigned from a figure in Aly (2023), Applied Sciences, with the group’s own photographs.

Destructive and dynamic testing

Models taken all the way to failure in the open jet, and a decay test of a single-axis solar tracker.

A building model’s roof covering and sheathing tear away at high wind speed; the failure is shown in slow motion
A full-size tree tested in high wind until its pot overturns
Decay test: a single-axis solar tracker displaced by hand and released

How the facility was built

The open jet began as a Phase I prototype: a small 15-fan wind generator that Dr. Aly designed and built with his students, who presented its first results in 2014. Its atmospheric boundary-layer flow was validated with CFD and measurements (Aly and Gol-Zaroudi, Measurement, 2017). The large-scale facility followed, with a 2 × 2 array of large fans driving the 4 m by 4 m test section. As principal investigator, Dr. Aly led the eight-investigator team that established the large-scale facility (2016–2017), and he prepared the AutoCAD drawings of its components.

A single fan cell, the building block of the Phase I generator
A single fan cell, the building block of the Phase I generator
Building the frame of the Phase I wind generator
Building the frame of the Phase I wind generator
The Phase I fan wall
The Phase I fan wall
The Phase I 15-fan wind generator and test table
The Phase I 15-fan wind generator and test table
Students run the Phase I generator and read the flow live (2014)

Results from the facility

Highlights are on the Research page; the full record is on Publications.