Prediction of wind flow in seaport areas and wind forces assessment on port infrastructures

Among the meteorological events, the wind is the most destructive natural phenomenon and most frequently the prime cause of accidents occurred in seaport areas. The characterization of winds is of primary importance towards the safety management of seaports and port infrastructures. In this paper, RANS and SAS simulations are used to predict the wind field and wind forces on a real case study, the Port of Rotterdam (the Netherlands). CFD wind velocity and wind direction time series near the quay area validated by means of on-site measurements carried out on the same area. The analysis shows that the choice of positions near the terminal for comparison of CFD and measured data might be crucial for an accurate prediction of wind field and wind forces around/on port infrastructures.