Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Spectral-Element Simulation of the Turbulent Flow in an Urban Environment

Version 1 : Received: 31 May 2021 / Approved: 1 June 2021 / Online: 1 June 2021 (10:43:13 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Stuck, M.; Vidal, A.; Torres, P.; Nagib, H.M.; Wark, C.; Vinuesa, R. Spectral-Element Simulation of the Turbulent Flow in an Urban Environment. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 6472. Stuck, M.; Vidal, A.; Torres, P.; Nagib, H.M.; Wark, C.; Vinuesa, R. Spectral-Element Simulation of the Turbulent Flow in an Urban Environment. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 6472.

Abstract

The mean flow and turbulence statistics of the flow through a simplified urban environment, which is an active research area in order to improve the knowledge of turbulent flow in cities, is investigated. This is useful for civil engineering, pedestrian comfort and for health concerns caused by pollutant spreading. In this work, we provide analysis of the turbulence statistics obtained from well-resolved large-eddy simulations (LES). A detailed analysis of this database reveals the impact of the geometry of the urban array on the flow characteristics and provides for a good description of the turbulent features of the flow within a simplified urban environment. The most prominent features of this complex flow include coherent vortical structures such as the so-called arch vortex, the horseshoe vortex and the roof vortex. These structures of the flow have been identified by an analysis of the turbulence statistics. The influence of the geometry of the urban environment (and particularly the street width and the building height) on the overall flow behavior have also been studied. Finally, the well-resolved LES results were compared with the experimental database from Monnier et al. to discuss differences and similarities between the respective urban configurations.

Keywords

urban flows; turbulence; well-resolved large-eddy simulations

Subject

Engineering, Automotive Engineering

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