In this paper, the experimental and computational analysis of wind speed distribution in shipyard area is presented to review the flow characteristics under different wind directions. In shipyard, the prediction of wind speed is important to estimate environmental loads on the ships and offshore structures moored at quayside for prevention of mooring failure. For this purpose, the wind tunnel test was conducted previously - a 1:1250 scale model of the shipyard and its surrounding terrain was constructed with a large level of topographical detail, extending approximately for a radius of 10 km from the center of the shipyard. The wind speed and turbulence were measured at twelve positions in and around shipyard in order to find the wind speed ratio to the reference wind speed. Also the computational study has been carried out using the commercial CFD code, STAR-CCM+ with same scale model and atmospheric wind conditions to compare with the experimental results. At each monitoring point, the tendency of the wind speed ratio relative to the reference wind speed was similar to that of the wind tunnel test and the wind flow distribution at each inflow conditions showed good agreement.
The study of wind flow over shipyard with its surrounding terrain is crucial to estimate environmental load on the ships and offshore structures. These vessels are moored at quayside for installation of topside facilities and various outfitting work until delivery date. Since these vessels are often experienced extreme environmental condition such as typhoon, it is very important to predict wind speed at shipyard and prepare the proper mooring system to prevent severe damage caused by mooring failure. In fact, the typhoon that hit South Korea in 2003 caused huge losses, several floating oil rigs and ships under construction docked on quayside were swept away and damaged by strong wind and high waves (Na, 2004; Park, 2011).
The purpose of this study is to examine experimentally and numerically the characteristics of the flow field over shipyard to find the wind speed ratio compared to reference wind speed for reduction of potential risk. For this, the wind tunnel test was conducted previously in 2004 under different wind direction condition and measurement of wind speed and turbulence intensity was performed at several positions within the shipyard to determine the wind conditions. In the past 50 years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been increasingly developed and applied as a powerful assessment tool in wind engineering (Raithby et al., 1987). CFD simulation for the same scale model is also present to compare the tendency of the wind speed distribution at each monitoring point with wind tunnel test results.
