Computational Modeling of Wind Flow Around a Group of Buildings

Abstract

In the present paper attention is focused on applications of computational flow modeling for the evaluation of wind effects around a single building, between two parallel buildings and around a collection of buildings by using Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations based turbulence models, namely the standard turbulence model and the RNG turbulence model and the large eddy simulation (LES) approach, namely the RNG based sub-grid scale model. The relative performance of turbulence models for a single building is assessed by comparison with the experimental data, and the numerical calculations are further extended to analyze the wind effects between two parallel buildings and multiple buildings in consideration of varying building configuration and the passage width. All numerical simulations are carried out using the finite volume method (FVM). It is confirmed that the current improved LES based CFD techniques are rather promising to study the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer flow around the buildings as compared with the RANS equations based turbulence models.