Depertment of New Type Snow Fence with Airfoil Snow Plates for Prevention of Blowing-Snow Disasters (1st Report Evaluation of Performance by Blowing-Snow Simulation in Wind Tunnel)

The purpose of the present study was to develop a new snow fence with the airfoil snow plates for the prevention of snowdrifts and improvement of visibility on roadways. The design was in accordance with aerodynamic principles, and its performance was evaluated in a wind tunnel test in which natural snow was used to simulate blowing-snow. In general, the snowdrifts and visibility blockage behind the snow fence was caused by the alternate rolling-up of the bottom gap flow and the shear layer separated from the top of snow fence. It was found that the alternate rolling-up of the bottom gap flow and the shear layer separated from the top of snow fence could be prevented by using airfoil snow plates. On the basis of this finding, the airfoil snow plates with an optimum configuration were designed for the prevention of alternate rolling-up of their flows. Consequently, the developed new type snow fence with the airfoil snow plates plates had a high performance in preventing snowdrifts and improving visibility in comparison with the conventional snow fence