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Boundary layer wind tunnel tests of outdoor airflow field around urban buildings: A review of methods and status

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  • Zhao, Yi
  • Li, Ruibin
  • Feng, Lu
  • Wu, Yan
  • Niu, Jianlei
  • Gao, Naiping

Abstract

Outdoor airflow fields have received increasing attention in the building aerodynamics community in virtue of the airflow distributions around buildings are closely related to issues such as thermal comfort, building ventilation, and pollutant dispersion. Field observations, wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations are the three prime investigation methods. Among them, wind tunnel tests can realize the quantitative studies of wind speed, direction and temperature in a human-controlled environment. Thereupon, this method has been widely used in the studies of urban microclimate. The focus of this paper is on the airflow distributions around buildings obtained through wind tunnel tests, and such studies are mostly conducted in boundary layer wind tunnels with long test section. First, this paper reviews current techniques for boundary layer wind tunnel tests of airflow distributions in urban outdoor environments, and distinguishes the numbers of dominant similarity characteristic for scaled-down models. Then, the advantages, limitations and applications of existing wind tunnel measurement instruments are compared. Finally, the characteristics of airflow fields around buildings in three typical configurations from previous studies (i.e. isolated building, street canyon, and building complexes) are elucidated, and the results are discussed. This review accentuates that it is difficult to ensure a comfortable environment around buildings only through design experience. Therefore, the proposed building models should be carefully assessed in combination with wind tunnel tests at the design stage. In addition, it is important to obtain wind tunnel test data for buildings with thermal effects by matching appropriate similarity criteria, and the importance of laying out the underlying surfaces during the test is also emphasized. This review concludes with a summary of challenging issues intended to provide reference for future studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Yi & Li, Ruibin & Feng, Lu & Wu, Yan & Niu, Jianlei & Gao, Naiping, 2022. "Boundary layer wind tunnel tests of outdoor airflow field around urban buildings: A review of methods and status," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:167:y:2022:i:c:s1364032122006062
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112717
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bendjebbas, H. & Abdellah-ElHadj, A. & Abbas, M., 2016. "Full-scale, wind tunnel and CFD analysis methods of wind loads on heliostats: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 452-472.
    2. Richard Davy & Igor Esau, 2016. "Differences in the efficacy of climate forcings explained by variations in atmospheric boundary layer depth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, September.
    3. Chien-Yuan Kuo & Rong-Jing Wang & Yi-Pin Lin & Chi-Ming Lai, 2020. "Urban Design with the Wind: Pedestrian-Level Wind Field in the Street Canyons Downstream of Parallel High-Rise Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Chien-Yuan Kuo & Chun-Ta Tzeng & Ming-Chin Ho & Chi-Ming Lai, 2015. "Wind Tunnel Studies of a Pedestrian-Level Wind Environment in a Street Canyon between a High-Rise Building with a Podium and Low-Level Attached Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Ran & Xu, Xiaodong & Liu, Ke & Kong, Lingyu & Wang, Wei & Wortmann, Thomas, 2024. "Airflow modelling for building design: A designers' review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).

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