Numerical Computation of a Turbulent Wind Flow over Buildings and Estimation of Its Effect on Drone’s Model

The nonlinear dynamics of turbulence formed by the wind flowing near solid objects can be studied with a variety of different physical models, with different levels of numerical complexity.One important application is the study of the formation of turbulence past buildings, with the goal of determining the no-fly zones for drones in smart cities.In this paper, we assess the Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) model, commonly used for simulating urban wind dynamics in small portions of a city.We compare the results with those of the hybrid Large-Eddy-Simulation (URANS-LES) model, more physically comprehensive, but more numerically demanding.By analyzing the aerodynamic loads on models of drones with fixed positions close to buildings, we evaluate the implications of both models for drone flight safety.In this paper, the results demonstrate that URANS significantly underestimates these loads compared to URANS-LES approach, with discrepancies reaching a factor up to three.This highlights the need for correction strategies when relying on URANS for drone safety assessments in urban environments.