NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SNOW DRIFTING AROUND SNOW FENCES

Abstract

The turbulent flow of wind and snow creates a complicated interaction during snow-drifting. To study snowdrift distribution patterns around a snow fence, a two-dimensional model is developed using ANSYS fluent (a commercially available CFD software). K-epsilon and discrete phase model are applied for this multiphase simulation. The model can simulate the dynamic changes as well as snow distribution patterns around a porous snow fence under no concurrent snowfall condition. It also works for different bottom gaps, porosities, and fence surfaces. The numerical result shows that snowdrift accumulation increases on the leeward side of the snow-fence and the snow-phase volume fraction decreases behind the snow fence for a certain time. Results obtained from the numerical model are in good agreement with the experimental measurements. A comparison is also made between the performance of a solar snow fence and a traditional snow fence. Higher snow drifting on the leeward side of the fence is observed for the traditional snow fence; whereas the maximum height of drifting is closer to the fence for the solar snow fence than those of traditional snow fences do. Therefore, the proposed model could be a useful guide for any snow fence design and implementation.