JOURNALOF Journal of Wind Engineering ~ffi~k~ and Industrial Aerodynamics 73 (1998) 45-58 ELSEVIER Surface-pressure variations on a triangular prism by porous fences in a simulated atmospheric boundary layer Sang-Joon Lee*, Cheol-Woo Park Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 790-784 Pohang, South Korea Received 1 September 1996; received in revised form 20 May 1997; accepted 9 July 1997 Abstract Surface-pressure variations on a two-dimensional triangular prism model behind porous wind fences were investigated experimentally at Reynolds number of Re = 2.1 × 105. This is a basic study to evaluate the effectiveness of porous fence to abate wind-blown dusts from triangular-shaped coal piles in an open storage yard. The neutrally buoyant atmospheric boundary layer was generated in the wind tunnel test section to simulate the flow over open terrain. Various fences with different porosity e and height were tested to investigate their effects on the surface pressure acting on a prism model at different locations. Flow visualization was also carried out to see the flow structure qualitatively. The results show that a porous fence with porosity of 40-50% is most effective for the reduction of pressure fluctuations on the model surface, i.e. abate the wind erosion effectively. The mean pressure coefficients decrease when the fence height is greater than the model height. In the near-wake region, the effect of prism location behind the fence was not significant, compared to that of fence porosity and height. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Wind fence; Porosity; Triangular prism; Wind erosion; Atmospheric boundary layer 1. Introduction The dust emission from coal piles in an open storage yard of coal-fired power plants or steel company may cause many environmental problems. It is very important to analyze the wind-erosion phenomena precisely and to reduce the fugitive dust emis- sions. Wind erosion is closely related to the flow characteristics of the atmospheric surface layer, especially to the surface pressure, mean velocity and turbulent shear * Corresponding author. 0167-6105/98/$19.00 © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII S0167-61 05(97)00276-6