| Summary: | The low-aspect-ratio cylindrical structures represented by oil tanks is a kind of wind sensitive structure, which is prone to buckling under wind-loads. A wind tunnel test was conducted to investigate the properties of wind-loads acting on smooth cylinders with an aspect ratio <i>AR</i> = 0.323 and 0.875, respectively. Some parameters, such as Reynolds number (<i>Re</i>) and turbulence intensity, were taken into account. The results reveal that low-aspect-ratio cylinders have a <i>Re</i> effect, and the effect rises with <i>AR</i>. <i>AR</i> is the main factor affecting the value of the base pressure coefficient and positive pressure range, and the former increases with <i>AR,</i> while the latter decreases with <i>AR</i>. Moreover, due to the influence of the free end and turbulence, which may suppress vortex shedding, the power spectrum of the lift coefficient essentially shows broad spectral peaks with <i>Re</i> and turbulence. Increasing the incoming turbulence made the flow round cylinders at a higher <i>Re</i> state, that is, the supercritical regime is reached at a smaller <i>Re</i>. When turbulence is greater than 4.0%, turbulence and <i>Re</i> have little effect on the mean base force coefficient of low-aspect-ratio cylinders.
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