Assessment of The Wind Pressure Coefficient Data Prediction on H-Shape Buildings Using RANS CFD Simulations

Abstract

Airflow Network (AFN)/Building Energy Simulations (BES) is a common approach to include natural ventilation effect in the thermal comfort and energy usage analyzes. For this method the Wind Pressure Coefficient (Cp) is an important input; although this information can be found though Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, it can carry some uncertainties, also some calculation models can be time consuming, such as the LES (Large Eddy Simulation). The “H” floor plan is frequently used in residential design, and in Brazil it is common for social housing porpoise. This work objective is to evaluate the accuracy of RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes) CFD simulations (K-ω SST and RNG k-ε) in predicting Cp for a low-rise (up to 4 floors) and H-shaped model. There were performed CFD simulations (Cp simulator) and Wind Tunnel experiments (LNEC -Lisbon) for 20 wind attack angles, reproducing an atmospheric boundary layer consistent to the suburban condition (α=0,23). Overall, the CFD turbulence models analyzed are in good agreement with the wind tunnel results (R²=0.9).