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Modelling of wind load on single and staggered dual buildings

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Abstract

A method of modelling numerically the wind loads on single and staggered dual buildings using Computational Fluid Dynamics is presented in this paper. Simulation of a turbulent boundary layer over test models was carried out at the Supercomputing and Visualization Unit, the National University of Singapore, using FLUENT 6.1.18. Turbulence was introduced at the inlet through a parallel auxiliary simulation and the computation of the flow advanced in time using Large Eddy Simulation with a ReNormalization Group subgrid-scale viscosity model. Wind velocities at different locations and wind pressures on the building faces were recorded. Subsequently the flow characteristics were examined and the force and moment spectra deduced. The results were compared with data from earlier wind tunnel experiments carried out at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. It can be concluded from the study that numerical wind modelling on tall structures is a promising alternative to conventional tests in atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnels.

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Abbreviations

γ:

scaling parameter in Lund’s method

Δt :

computational time step

δ:

boundary layer thickness

U :

free stream wind velocity

μτ :

subgrid-scale turbulence viscosity

v :

kinematic viscosity of wind

ρ:

density of air

C s :

Smagorinsky constant

D :

depth of the test building model

H :

height of the test building model

z + :

normalized wall coordinate

n :

frequency

u :

total streamwise wind velocity

u τ :

shear velocity

\({\bar{n}_{i}}\) :

natural frequency of the ith mode

ζ1 :

damping ratio in the fundamental mode

W :

width of the test building model

W(η):

weighing function in Lund’s method

ηinlet :

outer coordinate for the outer region

I u , I v , I w :

stream-wise, lateral and vertical turbulence intensities

x, y, z :

Cartesian coordinates associated with the flow in the stream-wise, spanwise and vertical directions, respectively

u′, v′, w′:

streamwise, spanwise and vertical fluctuating components of wind velocity, respectively

σ u , σ v , σ w :

standard deviations of turbulence in x, y and z directions, respectively

U(z), V(z), W(z):

streamwise, spanwise and vertical mean wind velocities, respectively

\({S_{{F_{x}}}, \,S_{{F_{y}}}, \,S_{{F_{M}}}}\) :

generalized drag, lift and moment power spectral density functions, respectively

Inner:

inner region of the flow

Outer:

outer region of the flow

Inlet:

inlet station (shown in Fig. 1b)

Recy:

recycle station (shown in Fig. 1b)

τ:

shear

i :

integer (=1, 2, 3,...)

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Swaddiwudhipong, S., Anh, T.T.T., Liu, Z.S. et al. Modelling of wind load on single and staggered dual buildings. Engineering with Computers 23, 215–227 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-007-0061-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00366-007-0061-2

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