Study of Wind Effects on Fire and Rescue Vehicles

摘要

The paper presents the results of an on-going study to define the wind speed limits and conditions beyond which fire and rescue vehicles should not be operated during a hurricane. For that purpose, a reduced scale model of a typical fire truck was tested in the wind tunnel. The wind tunnel tests were compared with full scale measurements on a real truck. A computer simulation using commercial software was also conducted. The paper presents and compares the results of the different tests: experimental, field, and numerical. The resulting wind pressure distributions on the vehicles will be used to define drag/lift forces, overturning and yawing moments. Based on the results of the tests and the analyses, safe wind speeds will be determined for the operation of fire and rescue vehicles.