Wind and Structures

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Large eddy simulation of blockage effects in the assessment of wind effects on tall buildings

  • Gao, Yang (State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • Gu, Ming (State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • Quan, Yong (State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University) ;
  • Feng, Chengdong (State Key Laboratory for Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University)
  • Received : 2019.10.05
  • Accepted : 2020.02.20
  • Published : 2020.06.25
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Abstract

The blockage effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of tall buildings is a fundamental issue in wind tunnel test but has rarely been addressed. To evaluate the blockage effects on the aerodynamic forces on a square tall building and flow field peripherally, large eddy simulations (LES) were performed on a 3D square cylinder with an aspect ratio of 6:1 under the uniform smooth inflow and turbulent atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) inflow generated by the narrowband synthesis random flow generator (NSRFG). First, a basic case at a blockage ratio (BR) of 0.8% was conducted to validate the adopted numerical methodology. Subsequently, simulations were systematically performed at 6 different BRs. The simulation results were compared in detail to illustrate the differences induced by the blockage, and the mechanism of the blockage effects under turbulent inflow was emphatically analysed. The results reveal that the pressure coefficients, the aerodynamic forces, and the Strouhal number increase monotonically with BRs. Additionally, the increase of BR leads to more coherence of the turbulent structures and the higher intensity of the vortices in the vicinity of the building. Moreover, the blockage effects on the aerodynamic forces and flow field are more significant under smooth inflow than those under turbulent inflow.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors are very grateful for the support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (90715040 and 91215302) and State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, PR China (SLDRCE19-A-05). The authors would like to thank the Shanghai Supercomputer center for providing the computational resources for this study.

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