Wind attack on air curtains-an undetermined factor Windaanval op luchtgordijnen een onbekende factor

Air curtains are used to protect entrances of big buildings such as department stores and cold-storage warehouses. When designing an air curtain for a given situation, one needs to know the pressure difference between both sides of the curtain due to the temperature difference and forced ventilation, as well as the wind. In literature on air curtains the effect of wind is generally underestimated. As the wind-induced pressure difference depends on the shape of the building, the surroundings and the situation of the entrances must be determined in each case by means of wind tunnel research with a model of the building and its surroundings. Until systematic research has been done on the influence of building geometry and situation, such ad-hoc investigations will be necessary to arrive at a proper design for an air curtain.