Aly Mousaad Aly
Associate Professor Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge LA
Dr. Aly is revolutionizing resilient infrastructure via pioneering AI-enhanced large-scale wind engineering and control for extreme weather.
Media
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Research Focus
Wind Engineering & Structural Dynamics
Dr. Aly’s research focuses on wind engineering and structural dynamics, assessing how extreme winds affect buildings, bridges, solar arrays, and other coastal infrastructure. He integrates wind-tunnel and open-jet experiments, CFD simulations, and smart structural-control strategies to quantify loads and design cost-effective, wind-resilient systems.
Accomplishments
LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award
2017
AISC Advancing Structural Steel Education Award, American Institute of Steel Construction
2023
ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Educator Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (Baton Rouge Branch)
2017
Education
Florida International University & Western University
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Civil Engineering
2013
Focus: Wind Engineering
Politecnico di Milano
Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineering
2009
Specialization: Applied Mechanics, Wind Engineering, Structural Dynamics
Alexandria University
M.Sc.
Mechanical Engineering
2005
Focus: Structural Dynamics, Seismic Response Reduction
Alexandria University
B.Sc. (Hons)
Mechanical Engineering
2001
Media Appearances
Hold that Tiger! Inside LSU’s Category 4 Hurricane Wind Machine
MSN online
2024-05-31
WGNO Good Morning New Orleans features reporter Bill Wood wants you to meet Aly Mousaad Aly.
He got his PhD studying how high rise buildings hold up in a storm.
With help from four jet engine-sized super fans, the professor actually created a Category 4 hurricane. That’s up to 156 miles an hour.
LSU professor studying ways to protect infrastructure from natural disasters
Greater Baton Rouge Business Report online
2021-10-18
When Hurricane Ida swept through Louisiana in early fall, hundreds of thousands were left without power while others were left without homes as the storm took out power lines and vulnerable structures…
Articles
Open-jet testing: Investigating turbulence and geometric scale effects on surface pressures in the atmospheric boundary layer
Physics of Fluids2024
Bluff body aerodynamics is essential for the design and safety of structures exposed to wind forces. Traditional atmospheric boundary layer wind testing often fails to replicate the complex turbulence characteristics of real-world flows, necessitating innovative testing methodologies. We developed an open-jet testing approach and conducted experiments on scaled models (1: 7.6 and 1: 10) at Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.5× 10 6 to 1× 10 6, significantly higher than those typically achieved in conventional testing. This methodology produced integral length scales approximately ten times larger than those observed in traditional methods, resulting in 25%–300% higher peak pressures than those from small-scale tests, closely aligning with full-scale field data.
Deep learning-based eddy viscosity modeling for improved RANS simulations of wind pressures on bluff bodies
Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics2024
Accurate prediction of wind pressures on buildings is crucial for designing safe and efficient structures. Existing computational methods, like Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations, often fail to predict pressures accurately in separation zones. This study proposes a novel deep-learning methodology to enhance the accuracy and performance of eddy viscosity modeling within RANS turbulence closures, particularly improving predictions for bluff body aerodynamics. A deep learning model, trained on large eddy simulation (LES) data for various bluff body geometries, including a flat-roof building and forward/backward facing steps, was used to adjust eddy viscosity in RANS equations. The results show that incorporating the machine learning-predicted eddy viscosity significantly improves agreement with LES results and experimental data, particularly in the separation bubble and shear layer. The deep learning model employed a neural network architecture with four hidden layers, 32 neurons, and tanh activation functions, trained using the Adam optimizer with a learning rate of 0.001.
A review of agrivoltaic systems: addressing challenges and enhancing sustainability
Sustainability2024
Agrivoltaics is a relatively new term used originally for integrating photovoltaic (PV) systems into the agricultural landscape and expanded to applications such as animal farms, greenhouses, and recreational parks. The dual use of land offers multiple solutions for the renewable energy sector worldwide, provided it can be implemented without negatively impacting agricultural production. However, agrivoltaics represent a relatively new technology, facing challenges including economic viability, vulnerability to wind loads, and interference with growing crops. This paper reviews the recent research on integrating agrivoltaics with farming applications, focusing on challenges, wind impact on agrivoltaics, and economic solutions. The effect of agrivoltaics on temperature control of the lands is a critical factor in managing (1) water and the soil of the land, (2) animal comfort, and (3) greenhouse productivity, positively or negatively.
Innovative Large-Scale Open-Jet Testing to Address Grand Challenges in Resilient and Sustainable Built Environments
Innovative Infrastructure Solutions2024
In the face of escalating windstorm impact exacerbated by climate change, building resilience is paramount, particularly in hurricane-prone regions like the southeastern US. This paper presents large-scale aerodynamic experiments to enhance building resilience. Challenges in accurately replicating wind flow characteristics in wall-bounded laboratory settings are addressed, emphasizing the critical role of complete turbulence, Reynolds number, and scale effects. The methodology utilizes the Louisiana State University (LSU) open-jet facility to produce complete turbulence at a large scale, eliminating the need for corrections accompanied by partial turbulence simulation. Advanced instrumentation and rigorous validation procedures ensure the reliability and robustness of experimental results.
Tuned Mass Dampers for Improving the Sustainability and Resilience of Seven Reinforced Concrete Chimneys Under Environmental Loads
Environment, Development and Sustainability2024
In the late 1950s, driven by economic development and environmental considerations, industrial plants began utilizing reinforced concrete (RC) for chimney construction, lacking specific earthquake-resistance provisions. However, RC chimneys exhibit an inelastic response and a potential for brittle collapse under seismic loads. The reconstruction of these chimneys presents a challenge, considering their significant symbolic value within the community and the increasing focus on sustainability, material recycling, and environmental resilience. In response to this need, we explore the performance of seven historic RC chimneys retrofitted with Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs). This study considers the nonlinear material properties of concrete and steel rebars subjected to five European earthquakes.
Wind design of solar panels for resilient and green communities: CFD with machine learning
Sustainable Cities and Society2023
Climate change mitigation and adaptation in urban environments call for more reliance on clean energy sources. Large photovoltaic (PV) systems have been enjoying renewed interest in clean and renewable energy. However, designing resilient PV systems faces an increased risk due to windstorms. Whether wind loads on PV systems are well understood, properly accounted for, and the damage is mitigated are crucial questions. While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is proven effective for quantifying wind loads on structures, accurate and affordable computations are challenging. In this paper, we employ CFD approaches and machine learning (ML) to obtain the design wind loads on solar panels.
Vibration attenuation in high-rise buildings to achieve system-level performance under multiple hazards
Engineering Structures2019
Rapid population growth and economic development in urban areas have greatly increased the potential of exposure to multiple hazards that may cause damage and business interruption in civil engineering structures, such as high-rise buildings. To alleviate these issues, fluid viscous dampers are employed under both wind and earthquake loads. The optimum number and location of dampers are selected based on modal drifts, and targeted values of response. Displacement, acceleration, inter-story drift ratio, shear force, and base bending moment are considered along with other concise set of system-level performance criteria that are easily understood by decision-makers and/or stakeholders of diverse technical backgrounds.
Seismic response reduction using a tuned pendulum pounding mass damper: Experimental verification of superior performance
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering2023
The recent seismic events have underscored the importance of resilient designs in mitigating losses to life and property. While tuned mass dampers (TMDs) have demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing structural vibrations, they have limitations in safeguarding buildings against non-structural damage caused by earthquakes. Additionally, their efficacy can be overwhelmed in high-magnitude seismic events. This paper introduces a novel device, called the tuned pendulum pounding mass damper (PTMD), that adapts the TMD by introducing a pounding surface near its static equilibrium position. The hypothesis is that this modification will yield superior performance in earthquake mitigation. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a shake table experiment on a PTMD installed in a small-scale building model with a viscoelastic material to model the pounding effects.
On the evaluation of wind loads on solar panels: The scale issue
Solar Energy2016
Solar power can improve the quality of life and reduce dependency on traditional energies that are a significant source of pollution and global warming. Solar panels are common devices used for collecting solar energy. To balance between sustainability and resilience, it is essential to provide an accurate estimate of the design wind loads for the solar panels. Traditionally design wind loads for buildings and other structures are obtained using building codes and standards. The solar panels represent a relatively recent technology and indeed there is no complete guidance ready for codification of wind loads on these types of structures.
Atmospheric boundary-layer simulation for the built environment: Past, present and future
Building and Environment2014
This paper summarizes the state-of-the-art techniques used to simulate hurricane winds in atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) for wind engineering testing. The wind tunnel simulation concept is presented along with its potential applications, advantages and challenges. ABL simulation at open-jet simulators is presented along with an application example followed by a discussion on the advantages and challenges of testing at these facilities. Some of the challenges and advantages of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are presented with an application example.
Event Appearances
Enhancing Structural Resilience: A Breakthrough in Wind Engineering through Open-Jet Testing
2025 | 15th Americas Conference on Wind Engineering St Charles, MO
Enhancing Wind Resilience in Photovoltaic Systems: Experimental/Computational Efforts
2024 | ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI) Conference Chicago, IL
Resilient Coastal Infrastructure: Mitigating Windstorm Impacts and Empowering Vulnerable Communities
2024 | 28th Joint Engineering Societies Conference Lafayette, LA
Enhancing Coastal Community Resilience Through Sustainable Solar Energy Systems
2024 | Gulf of Mexico Conference Tampa, FL
Enhancing Bridge Resilience and Overheight Vehicle Mitigation through Innovative Sacrificial Cushion Systems
2024 | TRB Annual Meeting Washington, DC
Resilient Coastal Communities: Sustainable Strategies for Solar Energy and Windstorm Preparedness
2024 | Institute for Energy Innovation Online Webinar
Solar Resilience: Harnessing Wind-Inspired Innovations for Cost-Effective Materials and Climate-Ready Energy Solutions
2024 | Institute for Energy Innovation
Large-Scale Wind Testing to Advance Climate Responsive Infrastructure (Keynote Presentation)
2022 | International Conference on Advances in Wind and Structures Virtual
The Power of Wind
2021 | LSU Science Café Baton Rouge, LA
Patents
Overheight vehicles impact avoidance and incident detection system
US12049233B2
A system and method are disclosed for overheight vehicle impact avoidance and incident detection. A detection subsystem of the system determines whether an incoming vehicle is clear to pass, depending at least on its height. The detection subsystem relies on distance sensors located along the freeway to detect the highest point of the vehicle and outputs an indication of whether the vehicle can pass. A warning subsystem receives the indication that a vehicle is overheight and provides a warning indication to the driver about the vehicle's inability to pass an upcoming structure. The warning subsystem may also perform a variety of other tasks, such as, for example, logging a variety of information about the vehicle and the incident, sending data about the incident locally to a central command, and generating reports.
