CFD numerical simulation of aerodynamic characteristics of a UHV steel tubular transmission tower

Abstract

The CFD （computational fluid dynamics） numerical simulation is used to study the aerodynamic characteristics of a UHV steel tubular transmission tower. A refined CFD numerical model of the whole transmission tower is established based on SOLIDWORKS and ICEM. The airflow around the tower is simulated using the SST k-ω turbulence model based on RANS， and the aerodynamic coefficients of each tower section under different wind speeds and wind angles are analyzed. Moreover， the drag coefficients obtained from numerical calculation of each tower section are compared with standard values at home and abroad. The results of the study show that the reference wind speed at the highest point of the transmission tower has little effect on the aerodynamic coefficient； the drag coefficients of most tower sections symmetrically distribute with a wind angle of 45°； the drag coefficients tend to decrease and then increase with the change of wind angle from 45° to 90° and reaches the minimum at 60°； the lift coefficient of the tower is almost zero； the drag coefficients of most tower sections （except for the legs and adjoining sections） obtained from numerical simulation are greater than the standard value.

Keywords

• tubular transmission tower
• uhv
• aerodynamic coefficient
• cfd
• numerical simulation