Statistical analysis of wind-induced pressure fields: A methodological perspective

Aerodynamic data obtained through multi-channel pressure scanners are analyzed by a wide set of statistical techniques that, at different levels of complexity, provide a quantitative description, as well as an insight of the observed phenomenon and its physical nature. This paper reviews a series of traditional and innovative statistical tools oriented to the study of the wind effects on bluff bodies and proposes their systematical classification on the basis of their ability in describing the temporal and the spatial probabilistic structure of the pressure field. Some of the treated techniques are applied to describe and interpret a set of wind-tunnel measurements obtained for a simple, but relevant case study involving a square-base prismatic body immersed in an artificial boundary layer. The discussion of the results enables the definition of general criteria that can guide the selection of the most appropriate data-analysis technique for the study of a large class of aerodynamics-related problems.