Wind comfort simulations

[edit] Introduction

The Wind Microclimate Guidelines for Developments in the City of London (published August 2019, PDF) describe the required studies to assess a planned structure’s impact on the comfort and safety of nearby pedestrians and cyclists. Within the guidelines, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is amongst the recommended approaches for buildings 25 meters or higher and is a requirement for buildings 50 meters or higher. Further, the guidelines encourage developers to address wind impact early in the design process and require that multiple scenarios are studied.

Within these new guidelines, computational fluid dynamics is among one of the recommended approaches for evaluating buildings over a certain height (25m or higher). This standard urges engineers to address wind impact early in the design process, as well as incorporate multiple scenarios to be studied before drawing actionable conclusions.

[edit] Cloud-based wind simulations

Three dimensional models of London can be used to help engineers and architects planning new developments in the city. Using a combination of a highly accurate and detailed 3D city model and the power of cloud-based simulations, urban designers, architects and engineers can directly measure wind statistics data as defined in the guidelines, run wind analyses for 36 wind directions and assess pedestrian wind comfort and safety according to the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) criteria on an annual, seasonal, and worst case scenario. It’s also possible to analyse the transient wind flow patterns around the buildings using streamlines, velocity vectors and much more for each of the 36 wind directions.

--Michal Konicek

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Computational fluid dynamics.
• Shear force.
• Structural principles.
• Uplift force.
• Wind load.

[edit] External references

• AccuCities.
• SimScale.
• SimScale Wind Comfort Simulation London (video).