[TowerTalk] Wind Noise

[Lux, Jim]

On 3/15/21 4:54 PM, Al Kozakiewicz wrote:
> I appreciate all the suggestions.
>
> I don’t think isolating the tower from the house is possible. Yes, I can slip some rubber or other material between the bracket and the house, but I probably over-engineered the anchors. They consist of threaded rod passed through the header in the gable end of the house along with two of the roof trusses. It is rigidly fixed with nuts and washers on each side of every member the rods pass through. The bracket is bolted to the rods.

In general, you're better off preventing the oscillation in the first 
place than trying to isolate it once it's there.


> Rope through the elements sounds like the way to go.

Rope around the elements (on the outside) is far more effective at 
killing the vibration.  Inside just damps it, but the forces are still 
driving it and the mass just changes the resonant frequency. Around the 
outside stops the oscillation.


Do you have an estimate of the vibration frequency? That can help you 
figure out what is vibrating.


F (Hz) = 3.26 * V(mi/hr) / d (inches)

For instance, a 1" diameter tube in a 10 mi/hr wind will shed vortices 
at about 33 Hz

Typically, aeolian vibrations are most noticeable in mild winds (10 
mi/hr) - when the speed gets up higher, you often have turbulence or 
gustyness so it can't excite the "resonator" as well.

However, anyone who's been in a high wind (>40 mi/hr) can tell stories 
about wires and cables singing (or screaming), during the gusts too..


0.25" at 40 mi/hr is 521 Hz - and that's pretty noticeable.