Effects of Street-Bottom and Building-Roof Heating on Flow in Three-Dimensional Street Canyons

Using a computational fluid dynamics （CFD） model, the effects of street-bottom and building-roof heating on flow in three-dimensional street canyons are investigated. The building and street-canyon aspect ratios are one. In the presence of street-bottom heating, as the street-bottom heating intensity increases, the mean kinetic energy increases in the spanwise street canyon formed by the upwind and downwind buildings but decreases in the lower region of the streamwise street canyon. The increase in momentum due to buoyancy force intensifies mechanically induced flow in the spanwise street canyon. The vorticity in the spanwise street canyon strengthens. The temperature increase is not large because relatively cold above-roof-level air comes into the spanwise street canyon. In the presence of both street-bottom and building-roof heating, the mean kinetic energy rather decreases in the spanwise street canyon. This is caused by the decrease in horizontal flow speed at the roof level, which results in the weakening of the mean flow circulation in the spanwise street canyon. It is found that the vorticity in the spanwise street canyon weakens. The temperature increase is relatively large compared with that in the street-bottom heating case, because relatively warm above-roof-level air comes into the spanwise street canyon.

Physical Experiments to Investigate the Effects of Street Bottom Heating and Inflow Turbulence on Urban Street-Canyon Flow

The effects of street bottom heating and inflow turbulence on urbanstreet-canyon flow are experimentally investigated using a circulating water channel. Threeexperiments are carried out for a street canyon with a street aspect ratio of 1. Results from eachexperiment with bottom heating or inflow turbulence are compared with those without bottom heatingand appreciable inflow turbulence. It is demonstrated that street bottom heating or inflowturbulence increases the intensity of the canyon vortex. A possible explanation on how street bottomheating or inflow turbulence intensifies the canyon vortex is given from a fluid dynamicalviewpoint.

Effects of a Building’s Density on Flow in Urban Areas

The effects of a building＇s density on urban flows are investigated using a CFD model with the RNG k - ε turbulence closure scheme. Twenty-seven cases with different building＇s density parameters （e.g., building and street-canyon aspect ratios） are numerically simulated. As the building＇s density parameters vary, different flow regimes appear. When the street canyon is relatively narrow and high, two counterrotating vortices in the vertical direction are generated. The wind speed along streets is mainly affected by the building＇s length. However, it is very difficult to find or generalize the characteristics of the street-canyon flows in terms of a single building＇s density parameter. This is because the complicated flow patterns appear due to the variation of the vortex structure and vortex number. Volume-averaged vorticity magnitude is a very good indicator to reflect the flow characteristics despite the strong dependency of flows on the variation of the building＇s density parameters. Multi-linear regression shows that the volume-averaged vorticity magnitude is a strong function of the building＇s length and the street-canyon width. The increase in the building＇s length decreases the vorticity of the street-canyon flow, while, the increase in the street- canyon width increases the vorticity.

Effects of Wind Fences on the Wind Environment around Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station

This study investigated the flow characteristics altered by Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station using computational fluid dynamics(CFD) modeling. The topography and buildings around Jang Bogo Station were constructed with computeraided-design data in the CFD model domain. We simulated 16 cases with different inflow directions, and compared the flow characteristics with and without Jang Bogo Station for each inflow direction. The wind data recorded by the site’s automatic weather station(AWS) were used for comparison. Wind rose analysis showed that the wind speed and direction after the construction of Jang Bogo Station were quite different from those before construction. We also investigated how virtual wind fences would modify the flow patterns, changing the distance of the fence from the station as well as the porosity of the fence. For westerly inflows, when the AWS was downwind of Jang Bogo Station, the decrease in wind speed was maximized(-81% for west-northwesterly). The wind speed reduction was also greater as the distance of the fence was closer to Jang Bogo Station. With the same distance, the fence with medium porosity(25%–33%) maximized the wind speed reduction.These results suggest that the location and material of the wind fence should be selected carefully, or AWS data should be interpreted cautiously, for particular prevailing wind directions.