By Anne Halliwell

news@kykernel.com

Anyone who walks past Patterson Office Tower on a windy day risks losing their papers, their umbrella and even their footing.

The wind tunnel created by the proximity of POT to the surrounding buildings has caused students to pull coat collars tighter and walk faster through the especially gusty area.

Conservation of mass — a basic principle of engineering that states matter can neither be created nor destroyed, only converted — causes the increase in wind speed, said Sean Bailey, an assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering.

“The buildings are acting like a funnel and squeezing the air through,” Bailey said.

When a large amount of air comes rushing at two buildings, the wind has to pass through a small space, which increases the winds’ speed in order to get all of the air through.

He said the air at the top of a funnel will trickle down to the opening slowly, but as it exits the funnel, it will move much more quickly.

Taller buildings, like POT, may prevent the air from rising over the obstacles in its path, leaving no way for the wind to travel except between the two obstructions, he said. This may make the blustery effects even more noticeable.

Prevailing wind conditions also contribute to the evidence of a wind tunnel, Bailey said.

He said wind tunnels could potentially be predicted using a similar method to Smoke Flow Visualization studies, which uses smoke  to move with the air in a wind tunnel. This provides a visual of  the airflow, according to the official National Aeronautics and Space Administration website.

“Wind tunnel tests of that scale are very expensive … in a campus of this size … it’s not a huge concern,” he said.

Bailey also made what he called a slightly educated guess that South Campus is less likely to suffer from wind tunnels given its alignment of buildings.

Still, Bailey does not think the wind tunnel effect on campus is a “huge deal.”

“Twelve steps and then you’re through,” he said about the short distance students are required to walk through the wind tunnel.

Some students had similar thoughts about the wind tunnel near Patterson Office Tower.

Erika Buchanan, a communications disorders sophomore, agreed that the wind tunnel is not a deterrent to passing POT.

“It’s kind of annoying sometimes, but I just try to get through it as quickly as possible,” she said.

Denise Kennedy, a first year graduate student working on her Master’s in sociology, said although she has felt some wind resistance around POT, she did not realize that the wind tunnel existed or that it could be an issue.

“No one’s going to get blown off their feet,” Bailey said.

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