arXiv · 2512.14215
Turbulence enhancement of a fan array wind generator using geometric texturing and optimization-based control
Abstract
Fan array wind generators (FAWG) are designed to generate a rich set of turbulent flows reminiscent of those found in natural environments. In this study, we experimentally investigate a square FAWG consisting of 10x10 individually controllable fans with 4 cm width and a maximum velocity of 17 m/s. The goal is to maximize the turbulence intensity in the test region. Two approaches for fan operation are investigated: first, geometric texturing of the duty cycle distribution, and second, maximization of the turbulence intensity at selected hot-wire sensors with particle-swarm optimization. We find that geometric texturing (specifically a checkerboard pattern) yields a robust, uniform turbulence field (Tu ~ 0.14) driven by jet interactions. Conversely, particle swarm optimization achieves higher local turbulence (Tu ~ 0.28) but significantly sacrifices spatial uniformity. This study underscores the trade-off between local maximization and global uniformity in active turbulence generation.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Gengshou Cao, Tamir Shaqarin, Zhutao Jiang, Yutong Liu, Yiqing Li, Nan Gao, Xiaozhou He, Bernd R. Noack. 2025-12-16. Turbulence enhancement of a fan array wind generator using geometric texturing and optimization-based control. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.14215
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.