Mitigation of Wind Effects on Aerospace Launch Facilities

Abstract

Methods for mitigating the effects of wind on aerospace launch facilities are presented using examples from actual design cases. Wind effects considered include: wind loads for structure survival in extreme wind events, and for operational phases such as vehicle erection and mobile service tower movement; translation of winds from a meterological tower to a launch site; prediction of gas concentrations at critical locations from rocket exhausts or from accidental gas releases; and prediction of heat transfer. Most examples are taken from the design of the Space Shuttle Launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Methodologies discussed center around the use of small‐scale models in a boundary‐layer wind tunnel.