Applications and prospects of CFD for wind engineering fields

Abstract Applications and prospects of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for wind engineering fields are described from the viewpoint of a researcher at a construction company. First, CFD applications for environmental tasks are introduced. Predicting the pedestrian wind environment was one of the earliest examples that was put into practical use. Since then, CFD has been extended to applications such as predicting the dust dispersion from construction sites. These predictions are based on the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Simulation (RANS) turbulence model. Another model, Large Eddy Simulation (LES), is used to predict high-temperature exhaust gas flows inside the urban canopy, where the unsteady flow field affects the scalar transport phenomena. The area where the use of LES is most expected is in the field of wind force evaluation. For this purpose, the generation of time-dependent inflow boundary conditions is indispensable. Accordingly, the generation methods are introduced, and prediction examples are explained. Further, the prediction examples of the peak wind pressure around a complex-shaped building and the wind force evaluation for a base isolated building are exhibited. These results prove that the result of proper execution of CFD is equivalent to that of a wind tunnel experiment. In addition, as an exploratory study example, a prediction of wind pressure distribution brought by a tornado-like swirling flow is illustrated. Finally, future prospects in using CFD are discussed.