Title

Boundary element-finite difference formulation for wind flow simulation

Abstract

This study utilizes a numerical technique combining the Finite-Difference Method (FDM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM), for computer simulation of wind flow around bluff bodies. The numerical technique developed is used for solving the governing unsteady flow equations of motion for bluff body flow. A FDM formulation often involves determining the divergence of the Navier-Stokes equations, while enforcing continuity conditions. This mathematical operation results in a Poisson type pressure equation, which is solved along with the momentum equations (in case of 2D, two momentum equations, one for the along-wind direction and the other for the direction normal to it), using Dirichlet and Neuman type boundary conditions. A major drawback of the FDM approach lies in the enormous amount of computational effort and time required for the pressure equation to converge during each time step of the simulation. To solve this pressure equation a domain-independent numerical technique such as the BEM is favored over the domain-dependent finite-element method (FEM). The BEM which involves discretization of only the boundary, results in the use of smaller sized matrices. The BEM also leads to a direct determination of the wall surface pressures, thus, eliminating the need for interpolation as is the case with FDM. The technique is then used to simulate the flow around a circular cylinder, a bluff shape for which measured data and numerically computed data are available. The results from this study are compared with the existing data, and the computational efficiency of this FDM-BEM hybrid technique is also evaluated, in comparison with the techniques used by other researchers.

Publication Date

1-1-1997

Publication Title

Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics

Volume

67-68

Number of Pages

949-

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-6105(97)80168-7

Socpus ID

0031108825 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0031108825

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