Numerical simulation to determine the effects of incident wind shear and turbulence level on the flow around a building

Abstract

The effects of incident shear and turbulence on flow around a cubical building are being investigated by a turbulent kinetic energy/dissipation ( k- ϵ) model (TEMPEST). The numerical simulations demonstrate significant effects due to the differences in the incident flow. The addition of upstream turbulence and shear results in a reduced size of the cavity directly behind the building. The accuracy of numerical simulations is verified by comparing the predicted mean flow fields with the available wind-tunnel measurements of Castro and Robins (1977). Comparing our results with experimental data, we show that the TEMPEST model can reasonably simulate the mean flow.