Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes

Abstract Understanding the effect of building morphology on the flow aloft is important to the ventilation and pollutant removal in cities. This study examines the dynamics over hypothetical urban areas in isothermal conditions using wind tunnel experiments. Different configurations of rib-type and...

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Main Authors: Ziwei Mo, Chun-Ho Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2018-06-01
Series:Geoscience Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0115-x
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author Ziwei Mo
Chun-Ho Liu
author_facet Ziwei Mo
Chun-Ho Liu
author_sort Ziwei Mo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Understanding the effect of building morphology on the flow aloft is important to the ventilation and pollutant removal in cities. This study examines the dynamics over hypothetical urban areas in isothermal conditions using wind tunnel experiments. Different configurations of rib-type and cube-type arrays are designed to model hypothetical rough urban surfaces. The mean and fluctuating velocities are measured by hot-wire anemometry with X-wire probes. The results show that significant variations of fluctuating velocities and momentum fluxes are clearly observed in the near-wall region, depicting the inhomogeneous flow in response to the presence of roughness elements in the lower part of turbulent boundary layer. Comparing the variables over different rough surfaces, the roof-level fluctuating velocities and momentum fluxes increase with increasing surface roughness. Quadrant analyses and frequency spectra collectively suggest that the fresh air entrainment and aged air removal are enhanced over rougher surfaces. Larger energy-carrying turbulence motions contribute mostly to the more efficient ventilation over urban areas.
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spelling doaj.art-35002ea2b1914423ba8623b3502eee8b2022-12-22T00:44:36ZengSpringerOpenGeoscience Letters2196-40922018-06-015111010.1186/s40562-018-0115-xWind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubesZiwei Mo0Chun-Ho Liu1Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong KongDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong KongAbstract Understanding the effect of building morphology on the flow aloft is important to the ventilation and pollutant removal in cities. This study examines the dynamics over hypothetical urban areas in isothermal conditions using wind tunnel experiments. Different configurations of rib-type and cube-type arrays are designed to model hypothetical rough urban surfaces. The mean and fluctuating velocities are measured by hot-wire anemometry with X-wire probes. The results show that significant variations of fluctuating velocities and momentum fluxes are clearly observed in the near-wall region, depicting the inhomogeneous flow in response to the presence of roughness elements in the lower part of turbulent boundary layer. Comparing the variables over different rough surfaces, the roof-level fluctuating velocities and momentum fluxes increase with increasing surface roughness. Quadrant analyses and frequency spectra collectively suggest that the fresh air entrainment and aged air removal are enhanced over rougher surfaces. Larger energy-carrying turbulence motions contribute mostly to the more efficient ventilation over urban areas.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0115-xFrequency spectraMomentum fluxesQuadrant analysesTurbulent flowsWind tunnel laboratory experiments
spellingShingle Ziwei Mo
Chun-Ho Liu
Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
Geoscience Letters
Frequency spectra
Momentum fluxes
Quadrant analyses
Turbulent flows
Wind tunnel laboratory experiments
title Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
title_full Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
title_fullStr Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
title_full_unstemmed Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
title_short Wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
title_sort wind tunnel measurements of turbulent boundary layer flows over arrays of ribs and cubes
topic Frequency spectra
Momentum fluxes
Quadrant analyses
Turbulent flows
Wind tunnel laboratory experiments
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40562-018-0115-x
work_keys_str_mv AT ziweimo windtunnelmeasurementsofturbulentboundarylayerflowsoverarraysofribsandcubes
AT chunholiu windtunnelmeasurementsofturbulentboundarylayerflowsoverarraysofribsandcubes