Video Presentations: Hybrid Wind Tunnel and CFD Study for a Complex Wind Analysis

Niall O'Sullivan
Technical Director | UK, EU and USA
Windtech Consultants, London

Lightweight hanging artworks and light fittings are often included in colonnades or atriums to add aesthetic features and prestige to buildings. Complex wind flows in these regions creates challenges in the accurate determination of design wind loads on these structures. An investigation is presented to determine wind loads on the iconic Project Glory, Singapore, and an associated artwork.

Wind flows in colonnades and atria are characterized by highly three-dimensional swirling flows, regions of high turbulence, and high wind shear. These wind conditions are difficult to model using traditional wind tunnel techniques. For this project the wind field within the colonnade region has been determined using a hybrid method using both wind tunnel and computational fluid dynamics.The wind flow around the exterior of the building was first modelled using a wind tunnel test and measurements from these tests were then used as boundary conditions for a detailed computational fluid dynamics model. The use of the wind tunnel allowed for the inclusion of the impact of the surrounding buildings on the wind flow through the colonnade and the computational model allowed for the inclusion of small details such as louvres. The use of the computational techniques also allowed for a detailed model of the art works to be prepared.

The results of the computational modeling of the wind flow demonstrated the funneling of the wind through the colonnade due to the unique triangular shape of the building, as well as the chaotic nature of the wind flow field around the artwork. The final analysis presented forces and moments about the three axes of the artwork, as well as the net design pressures acting on each of its individual elements.