WindWise: CFD for civil engineers and architects

Catalog description

This course teaches students to use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to analyze the impact of wind on the built environment. The emphasis is on analyzing wind effects that affect resilience and sustainability, including pedestrian level wind comfort and safety, natural ventilation and cooling, wind loading, and urban heat island effects. We will define the concepts of verification and validation of computational models, and discuss the importance of modeling choices that can impact the accuracy of the results, including the numerical schemes, the turbulence models, and the definition of boundary conditions. Assignments will consist of performing simulations and post-processing results with two learning goals: 1) gaining insight into the effect of wind on the sustainability and resilience of the built environment, and 2) assessing the effect of the above-mentioned modeling choices on model predictions. Final projects will consider CFD simulations of a realistic urban or building design problem.