Computational modeling of wind flow and its effect on a cubical building using Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique

Abstract

The wind flow and its effects over cubical buildings lying in close vicinity in urban areas generate flow interference effects causing problems related to pollution, pedestrian comfort and ventilation within the buildings thus promoting a lot of research interest in this area during the last few years. The wake and its characteristics of a building have drawn attention for various applications like the dispersion of pollutants downwind of conventional or nuclear power plants, airport runway interference effect, take-off/landing limitation at heliports, pedestrian wind comfort, and wind loads on structures. Computational Fluid dynamics (CFD) is one of the promising technologies for investigating these important issues, which will not necessarily be solved by traditional wind tunnel technology. Large Eddy Simulation Technique (LES) shall be used to predict the flow physics- external flow around the building. The proposed work has been accomplished through numerical simulation using ANSYS-FLUENT 12.1 solver. The effects have been quantified in terms of the pressure distribution, turbulence in and around the building, three-dimensionality effect on the overall flow patterns