An investigation into the attenuation of wind speed by the use of windbreaks in the vicinity of overhead wires

An experimental and computational analysis of the efficacy of windbreaks fo r the attenuation of wind speed in the vicinity of overhead wires is presen ted. This work has been specifically applied to the case of oscillation of overhead catenary contact wires in a cross-wind. A wind tunnel subscale mod el of a windbreak/overhead wire configuration is presented and discussed wi th regard to the feasibility of reducing the aerodynamically induced oscill ations encountered in such situations. This porous blockage placed upstream of the simulated overhead wire attempts to represent the influence of a wi ndbreak/shelterbelt on the reduction of the vibration phenomenon known as g alloping. In conjunction with this experimental study, a computational flui d dynamics (CFD) analysis has been carried out in order to assess the influ ence of the shelterbelt on the catenary wires in a typical full-scale scena rio. The results indicate that a dense shelterbelt of height H positioned b etween 2-8 tree heights, H, upstream of the suspended cables provides a suf ficient reduction in wind speed to reduce significantly the amplitude of wi re vibration.