Design and aerodynamic investigation of dynamic architecture

Hassam Nasarullah Chaudhry*, John Kaiser Calautit, Ben Richard Hughes

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
17 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The effect of the spacing between adjacent building floors on the wind distribution and turbulence intensity was analysed using computational fluid dynamics in this study. Five computational models were created with floor spacing ranging from 0.8 m (benchmark) to 1.6 m. The three-dimensional Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations along with the momentum and continuity equations were solved using the FLUENT code for obtaining the velocity and pressure field. Simulating a reference wind speed of 5.5 m/s, the findings from the study quantified that at a floor spacing of 1.6 m, the overall wind speed augmentation was 39 % which was much higher than the benchmark model (floor spacing = 0.8 m) indicating an amplification in wind speed of approximately 27 %. In addition, the results indicated a gradual reduction in turbulence kinetic energy by up to 53 % when the floor spacing was increased from 0.8 to 1.6 m. Although the concept was to integrate wind turbines into the building fabric, this study is limited to the assessment of the airflow inside the spaces of building floors which can be potentially harnessed by a vertical axis wind turbine. The findings of this work have indicated that there is a potential for integration which will lead on to future research in this area.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7
Number of pages11
JournalInnovative Infrastructure Solutions
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 May 2016

Keywords

  • buildings
  • CFD
  • energy consumption
  • renewable energy
  • wind Energy
  • wind turbine

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