Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.12989/was.2012.15.4.313

On the domain size for the steady-state CFD modelling of a tall building  

Revuz, J. (Ansys France, Montigny le Bretonneux)
Hargreaves, D.M. (Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham)
Owen, J.S. (Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham)
Publication Information
Wind and Structures / v.15, no.4, 2012 , pp. 313-329 More about this Journal
Abstract
There have existed for a number of years good practice guidelines for the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the field of wind engineering. As part of those guidelines, details are given for the size of flow domain that should be used around a building of height, H. For low-rise buildings, the domain sizes produced by following the guidelines are reasonable and produce results that are largely free from blockage effects. However, when high-rise or tall buildings are considered, the domain size based solely on the building height produces very large domains. A large domain, in most cases, leads to a large cell count, with many of the cells in the grid being used up in regions far from the building/wake region. This paper challenges this domain size guidance by looking at the effects of changing the domain size around a tall building. The RNG ${\kappa}-{\varepsilon}$ turbulence model is used in a series of steady-state solutions where the only parameter varied is the domain size, with the mesh resolution in the building/wake region left unchanged. Comparisons between the velocity fields in the near-field of the building and pressure coefficients on the building are used to inform the assessment. The findings of the work for this case suggest that a domain of approximately 10% the volume of that suggested by the existing guidelines could be used with a loss in accuracy of less than 10%.
Keywords
tall buildings; CFD; domain;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 2  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Yakhot, V., Orszag, S., Thangam, S., Gatski, T. and Speziale, C. (1992), "Development of turbulence models for shear flows by a double expansion technique", Phys. Fluids , 4(7), 1510-1520.   DOI
2 Revuz, J., Hargreaves, D. and Owen, J. (2010), "Application of a method for generating turbulent inflow based on inverse fourier transforms for large eddy simulations", Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, May 23-27.
3 Revuz, J. (2011), Numerical simulation of the wind flow around a tall building and its dynamic response to wind excitation, PhD Thesis, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
4 Richards, P. and Hoxey, R. (1993), "Appropriate boundary conditions for computational wind engineering models using the k-e turbulence model", J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 46-47, 145-153.   DOI
5 Sankaran, R. and Paterson, D. (1997), "Computation of rain falling on a tall rectangular building", J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 72, 127-136.   DOI
6 So, E., Chan, A. and Wong, A. (2005), "Large-eddy simulations of wind flow and pollutant dispersion in a street canyon", Atmos. Environ., 39(20), 3573-3582.   DOI   ScienceOn
7 Spalart, P. (2001), Young-Person's Guide to Detached-Eddy Simulation Grids, Technical Report NASA/CR-2001-211032. NASA. Langley Research Centre, Hampton, Virginia, USA.
8 Tamura, T., Nozawa, K. and Kondo, K. (2008), "AIJ guide for numerical prediction of wind loads on buildings", J. Wind. Eng. Ind. Aerod., 96(9-10), 1974-1984.   DOI
9 Tominaga, Y., Mochida, A., Yoshie, R., Kataoke, H., Nozu, T., Yoshikawa, M. and Shirasawa, T. (2008), "AIJ guidelines for practical applications of CFD to pedestrian wind environment around buildings", J. Wind. Eng. Ind. Aerod., 96(10-11), 1749-1761.   DOI   ScienceOn
10 VDI (2000), Environmental meteorology - Physical modelling of flow and dispersion processes in the atmospheric boundary layer - Application of wind tunnels, Technical Report 3783, Part 12. Verien Deutscher Ingenieure.
11 Watakabe, M., Ohashi, M., Okada, H., Okuda, Y., Okuda, Y., Kikitsu, H., Ito, S., Sasaki, Y., Yasui, K., Yoshikawa, K. and Tonagi, M. (2002), "Comparison of wind pressure measurements on tower-like structure obtained from full-scale observation, wind tunnel test, and the CFD technology", J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 90, 1817-1829.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Xiang,W. and Wang, H. (2008), "Discussion on grid size and computational domain in CFD modelling of pedestrian wind environment around buildings", J. Civ. Eng. Arch., 2, 8-14.
13 Eskridge, R. and Hunt, J. (1979), "Highway modeling Part 1: Prediction of velocity and turbulence fields in the wake of vehicles.", J. Appl. Meteorol. Clim., 18(4), 387-400.   DOI   ScienceOn
14 Etyemezian, V., Davidson, C.I, Zufall, M., Dai, W., Finger, S. and Striegel, M. (2000), "Impingement of rain drops on a tall building", Atmos. Environ., 34(15), 2399-2412.   DOI   ScienceOn
15 Franke, J. (2007), Introduction to the prediction of wind loads on buildings by computational wind engineering (CWE), (Eds. Stathopoulos, T. and Baniotopoulos, C.), Wind Effects on Buildings and Design of Windsensitive Structures, SpringerWien, New York. chapter 3.
16 Franke, J., Hellsten, A., Schlunzen and Carissimo, B. (2007), Best practice guide for the CFD simulation of flows in the urban environment, COST Action 732:Quality assurance and improvement of microscale meteorological models.
17 Franke, J., Hirsch, C., Jensen, A., Krus, H., Schatzmann, M., Westbury, P., Miles, S., Wisse, J. and Wright, N.G. (2004), Recommendations on the use of CFD in wind engineering, COST Action C14: Impact of Wind and Storm on City Life and Built Environment, von Karman Insitute for Fluid Dynamics.
18 Hoxey, R., Richards, P. and Short, J. (2002), "A 6 m cube in an atmospheric boundary layer flow Part1. fullscale and wind-tunnel results", Wind Struct., 5(2-4), 165-176.   DOI
19 Huang, S., Li, Q. and Xu, S. (2007), "Numerical evaluation of wind effects on a tall steel structure building by CFD", J. Constr. Steel Res., 63, 612-627.   DOI   ScienceOn
20 Ishihara, T. and Hibi, K. (1998), "Turbulent measurements of the flow field around a high-rise building", J. Wind Eng. - Japan, 76, 55-64.
21 Kim, J.J. and Baik, J.J. (2004), "A numerical study of the effects of ambient wind direction on flow and dispersion in urban street canyons using the RNG k-e turbulence model", Atmos. Environ., 38(19), 3039-3048.   DOI   ScienceOn
22 Launder, B. and Spalding, D. (1974), "The numerical computation of turbulent flow", Comp. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng., 3(2), 269-289.   DOI   ScienceOn
23 Blocken, B., Stathopoulos, T. and Carmeliet, J. (2007), "CFD simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer: wall function problems", Atmos. Environ., 41(2), 238-252.   DOI   ScienceOn
24 Mochida, A., Tominaga, Y., Murakami, S., Yoshie, R., Ishihara, T. and Ooka, R. (2002), "Comparison of various k-${\varepsilon}$ models and DSM applied to flow around high-rise building - report on AIJ cooperative project for CFD prediction of wind environment", Wind Struct., 5(2), 227-244.   DOI
25 Baetke, F. and Werner, H. (1990), "Numerical simulation of turbulent flow over surface mounted obstacles with sharp edges and corners", J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 35, 129-147.   DOI
26 Blocken, B., Roels, S. and Carmeliet, J. (2004), "Modification of pedestrian wind comfort in the Silvertop Tower passages by an automatic control system", J. Wind Eng. Ind. Aerod., 92(10), 849-873.   DOI   ScienceOn
27 Buccolieri, R. and Di Sabatino, S. (2007), "Flow and pollutant dispersion in urban arrays for the standardization of CFD modelling practise", Proceedings of the 11th Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes, Cambridge, July.
28 Braun, A. and Awruch, A. (2009), "Aerodynamic and aeroelastic analyses on the CAARC standard tall building using numerical simulation", Comput. Struct., 87(9-10), 564-581.   DOI   ScienceOn