On the Experimental, Numerical and Data-Driven Methods to Study Urban Flows

Numerical Assessment of Side-Wind Effects on a Bus in Urban Conditions

The drag coefficient is usually considered to be a constant value, which allows us to calculate the aerodynamic losses. However, at lower speeds and wind, this value could be distorted. This also applies to buses in urban environments where due to traffic, the speed is relatively low. Since the schedule of the buses is fixed, based on the driving cycle, they travel at a nominal cruising speed. This makes it possible to examine the drag losses in a quasi-steady condition. To find the magnitude of this distortion in losses, a large-eddy simulation method was used with the help of commercially available software. Symmetrical and asymmetrical flows were induced into the digital wind tunnel to assess the distribution of the forces in the cruising direction and examine the flow patterns. It was discovered that the drag forces behave differently due to the low speeds, and calculations should be performed differently compared to high-speed drag evaluations.

Pollutant dispersion by tall buildings: laboratory experiments and Large-Eddy Simulation

Abstract

Pollutant dispersion by a tall-building cluster within a low-rise neighbourhood of Beijing is investigated using both full-scale Large-Eddy Simulation and water flume experiments at 1:2400 model-to-full scale with Particle Image Velocimetry and Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence. The Large-Eddy Simulation and flume results of this realistic test case agree remarkably well despite differences in the inflow conditions and scale. Tall buildings have strong influence on the local flow and the development of the rooftop shear layer which dominates vertical momentum and scalar fluxes. Additional measurements using tall-buildings-only models at both 1:2400 and 1:4800 scales indicates the rooftop shear layer is insensitive to the scale. The relatively thicker incoming boundary layer affects the Reynolds stresses, the relative size of the pollutant source affects the concentration statistics and the relative laser-sheet thickness affects the spatially averaged results of the measured flow field. Low-rise buildings around the tall building cluster cause minor but non-negligible offsets in the peak magnitude and vertical location, and have a similar influence on the velocity and concentration statistics as the scale choice. These observations are generally applicable to pollutant dispersion of realistic tall building clusters in cities. The consistency between simulations and water tunnel experiments indicates the suitability of both methodologies.

Graphical abstract

Spectral-Element Simulation of the Turbulent Flow in an Urban Environment

The mean flow and turbulence statistics of the flow through a simplified urban environment, which is an active research area in order to improve the knowledge of turbulent flow in cities, is investigated. This is useful for civil engineering, pedestrian comfort and for health concerns caused by pollutant spreading. In this work, we provide analysis of the turbulence statistics obtained from well-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES). A detailed analysis of this database reveals the impact of the geometry of the urban array on the flow characteristics and provides for a good description of the turbulent features of the flow within a simplified urban environment. The most prominent features of this complex flow include coherent vortical structures such as the so-called arch vortex, the horseshoe vortex and the roof vortex. These structures of flow have been identified by an analysis of the turbulence statistics. The influence of the geometry of urban environment (and particularly the street width and the building height) on the overall flow behavior has also been studied. Finally, the well-resolved LES results were compared with an available experimental database to discuss differences and similarities between the respective urban configurations.