WIND FLOW MODELING IN EARLY URBAN DESIGN

<p>Buildings affect the wind flow pattern over an urban area. The wind has a significant effect on the comfort and safety of pedestrians, urban microclimate, and pollutant dispersion. It is important to include wind flow modeling in the early urban design to minimize wind safety issues and ensure pedestrian comfort. In this paper, numerical simulations based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are performed to study the effect of four case study building layouts on the distribution of wind pressure, wind speed, and turbulence kinetic energy. The ANSYS software was used to simulate wind flow. Three-dimensional numerical simulation was employed, with the standard k-ε turbulence model. Simulation results show that urban space design with narrow passages between buildings leads to a significant increase in local wind speed and causes wind nuisance for pedestrians. When the wind is perpendicular to the buildings, the reverse flow zone behind buildings is much narrower compared to other cases. The corners of the buildings are the regions with high-speed flow due to the side vortices. Placing restaurant terraces, gardens, etc. close to these regions should be avoided due to safety issues and discomfort. Findings from this research can equip architects and urban planners with informed decision-making tools to create more comfortable urban environments.</p>