Which Design Constraints Apply to a Pipe-Framed Greenhouse?

Abstract

Many studies related to greenhouse design have been conducted. This paper reviewed five results of research into the design of pipe-framed greenhouses (hereinafter pipe houses) using an investigation, numerical analysis and wind-tunnel test. The first and second studies showed how the pipe houses collapsed due to snow and wind load. The third study analyzed an economical and reasonable design for a typical pipe house subject to snow load. Seven numerical finite element models of simple pipe house were subject to stress and buckling analyses. In the fourth study, the distributions of wind pressure coefficient Cp, both external and internal, were evaluated in detail using a pipe-house model, based on a wind-tunnel experiment using 1:20 scale models in a turbulent boundary layer correctly simulating natural winds over typical open-country exposure. The fifth study investigated the effect of dp, the distance between the side walls of pipe houses, on the distribution of Cp on two or three pipe houses arranged in parallel. The results of these studies are indispensable to establish safe and economical pipe-house designs. Discipline: Agricultural engineering Additional key words: high tunnel, numerical analysis, snow load, wind pressure coefficient, windtunnel test