Numerical simulation for cross-ventilation flow of generic block sheltered by urban-like block array

Abstract

This study reports the results of large eddy simulations with the standard Smagorinsky model of the velocity fields within a cross-ventilation model sheltered by block arrays. A very fine resolution of 1/100 of the building height was adopted. The objectives are to understand the sheltering effect of the surrounding building array and quantify the ventilation rate in the cross-ventilation model. Two types of block arrays and opening positions were simulated. Comparisons of the numerical and experimental results justify that the present simulations reproduced the characteristics of the mean as well as turbulent flows introduced in the ventilation model. In addition, the simultaneous observations of the outdoor and indoor velocities enabled us to conclude that the change in the outdoor flow patterns caused a dramatic change in the indoor velocity distributions, although the opening position was identical in all such cases. Using these detailed flow fields, we compared three types of ventilation rates: the net, gross, and instantaneous ventilation rates. Moreover, we estimated the instantaneous ventilation rate using a random variable following the Gaussian distribution. The ventilation due to the turbulent inflow was crucial in the model with its opening on the lateral side of the block, whereas the mean flow primarily determined the ventilation rate for the block with its opening on the streamwise walls. In both cases, the estimation model could predict the instantaneous ventilation rate well with a maximum overestimation of only 3%. This means that the model was justified for all the present array and opening conditions.