Wind Engineering

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I have worked in the field of wind engineering and bluff body aerodynamics throughout my career, largely concerned with the intermediate wind speed range between the low wind speeds of relevance to ventilation and wind energy studies, and the high wind speed range of most relevance to structural design. Thus the main thrust of my work has been in the fields of sustainability and resilience – how to make structures and infrastructure and agricultural systems safe, reliable and fit for purpose. This page contains links to blog posts and presentations in this area.  In addition links to recent papers and student PhD theses are also given.

International Wind Engineering Seminars

A series of International Wind Engineering Seminars, sponsored by the IAWE, were held between October 2020 and March 2021, via Zoom. Full details can be found here.

Wind Engineering blog posts

Recent blog posts in this category include

• The calculation of Covid-19 infection rates on GB trains. A post in which, using the work of Jimenez at Colorado, I present the results of some quantitative, if approximate, calculations of Covid-19 infection risk on trains in Britain. (June 16^th 2021).
• On April 19^th 2021 an online memorial event was held to celebrate the life of Prof Giovanni Solari of the University of Genoa who died five months previously. His career is well described in a memorial article in the Journal of Wind Engineering that can be found here. I was one of over 20 friends and colleagues who spoke at the event. This post is the  text of my short contribution (April 21^st 2021)
• The Midland Tornado of 1545 – a discussion of a major historical storm in the UK. What were the likely windspeeds involved, and was it really a tornado? (April 14th 2021)
• A blog post reflecting on the recent International Wind Engineering seminars, giving some statistics and posing some questions about the future. Responses via the comments section on the blog or by e mail would be appreciated. (March 14th 2021)
• Tornadoes and debris (November 13th 2020)
• Some thoughts on ventilation and pathogen concentration build up. (September 13th 2020)
• Modelling of extreme wind gusts (September 5th 2020)
• Some musings on tornado vortex models (June 30the 2020)
• Measuring the behaviour of pedestrians in high winds (June 8th 2020)
• Train crosswind performance – is there best shape? (June 8th 2020)
• The oldest world record – Robert Percival’s 1881 cricket ball throw (May 19th 2020)
• Pedestrian, cyclist and road and rail vehicle safety in high winds (March 31st 2020)
• Vehicle restrictions during windy conditions on long span bridges (March 16th 2020)
• Specifying accident wind speed risk (March 8th 2020)
• The 2017 Scruton Lecture (January 24th 2020)
• Crop lodging (January 24th 2020)
• Trains in crosswinds (January 24th 2020)

Wind Engineering papers

The links given below are to the publishers’ web sites, where the abstract can be read and the publication downloaded with the necessary permissions. Alternatively the final pre-publication of many (but not all) of these can be found the Birmingham Electronic Paper Repository here. Note also that many of the papers on the Train Aerodynamics and Transport pages also have a high Wind Engineering content.

A.D. Quinn, C.J. Baker, 2010, Spatial and temporal correlations of wind speeds, Proceedings of the institution of Civil Engineers. Structures and Buildings 163, 65-72

C.J. Baker, 2010, The calculation of cricket ball trajectories, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Proceedings of the IMechE C, 224, 1947-1958, Awarded SAGE prize in 2011 for best paper in Journal in 2010

P. Martinez-Vazquez, C.J. Baker, M. Sterling, A.D. Quinn, P.J. Richards, 2010, Aerodynamic forces on fixed and rotating plates, Wind and Structures, 13, 2 127-144

P. Martinez-Vazquez^.M. Sterling, C. J. Baker, A. D. Quinn, P.J. Richards 2011, Autorotation of Square Plates, with Application to Windborne Debris, Wind and Structures, An International Journal 14, 2

S Blenkinsop, Y Zhao, J Quinn, F Berryman, J Thornes, C Baker, H J Fowler, 2012, Downscaling future wind hazard for SE London using the UKCP09 regional climate model ensemble, 53, 141–156

C J Baker, 2013, A unified framework for the prediction of cricket ball trajectories in spin and swing bowling, IMechE Proceedings P – Journal of Sports Engineering, 227, 1 31 – 38

C J Baker, M Sterling, P Berry, 2014, A generalised model of crop lodging, Journal of Theoretical Biology 363, 1–12

C J Baker,2015, Risk analysis of pedestrian and vehicle safety in windy environments, Journal  of  Wind Engineering  and  Industrial Aerodynamics, 147, 283–290

C J Baker, M Sterling, 2017, Modelling wind fields and debris flight in tornadoes, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 168, 312-321 

C Baker, M Sterling, 2018, A conceptual model for wind and debris impact loading of structures due to tornadoes, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics. 175, 283-291

C Baker, M Sterling, 2019,  Are Tornado Vortex Generators fit for purpose? Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 190, 287-292

M. Mohammadi, J. M. Finnan, C. J. Baker and M. Sterling, 2020, The potential impact of climate change on oat lodging in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Advances in Meteorology,  4138469, 16 pp

G. M. D. Joseph, M. Mohammadi, M. Sterling, C. Baker, S. G. Gillmeier, D. Soper, M. Jesson, G. A. Blackburn, J. D. Whyatt, D. Gullick, J. Murray, P. Berry, D. Hartley, J. Finnan (2020) Determination of crop dynamic and aerodynamic parameters for lodging prediction, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 202,104169

C Baker, M Sterling, M Jesson (2020) The lodging of crops by tornadoes, Journal of Theoretical Biology 500, 110309

G. Vita, Z. Shu, M. Jesson, A. Quinn, H. Hemida, M. Sterling , C. Baker (2020) On the assessment of pedestrian distress in urban winds, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 203, 104200

M Mohammadi, J Finnan, M Sterling, C Baker (2020) A calibrated oat lodging model compared with agronomic measurements, Field Crops Research 255, 107784

Bourriez F, Sterling M, Baker C (2020) Windborne debris trajectories in tornado-like flow field initiated from a low-rise building, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 206, 104358

C. Paz, E. Suárez, C. Gil, C. Baker (2020)  CFD analysis of the aerodynamic effects on the stability of the flight of a quadcopter UAV in the proximity of walls and ground, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 206, 104378

P.M. Berry, C.J. Baker, G.A. Blackburn, Y. Miao, D. Hatley, M. Sterling, J.D. Whyatt (2021) “Development and application of a model for calculating the risk of stem and root lodging in maize”, Field Crops Research 108037

Wind Engineering theses

Note that a number of the theses on the Train Aerodynamics and Transport pages also have a high Wind Engineering contents

S. Jordan (2004) An investigation of the slipstreams and wakes of trains and the associated effects on trackside people and objects, University of Birmingham

A. McConville (2008) The physical simulation of thunderstorm downbursts, University of Birmingham

F Bourriez (2020) Tornadoes and wind borne debris; An experimental and numerical approach, University of Birmingham

Wind Engineering presentations

This presentation looks at the oldest world sporting record – that for throwing the cricket ball that dates back to 1882. It was originally produced for a conference of academic aerodynamicists that didn’t take place and contains both historical and technical material. A written version is given in the blog post The oldest world record – Robert Percival’s 1881 cricket ball throw

This video describes a series of experiments to measure pedestrian behaviour in high winds, through the use body and foot mounted instrumentation. The work formed part of a wider EPSRC sponsored project to investigate the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in urban areas in high winds. A blog post on these tests can be found at Measuring the behaviour of pedestrians in high winds