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Australialn Institue of Tropical Architecture, James Cook University , Townsville, QLD, Australia
Published online: 10 Oct 2011.
To cite this article: R. M. Aynsley (1999) Shape and Flow: The Essence of Architectural Aerodynamics, Architectural Science Review,
42:2, 69-74, DOI: 10.1080/00038628.1999.9696854
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00038628.1999.9696854
Archirccrunl Scicisc R c v i ~ x
Volumc 42, pp 69-74
Introduction
During the early days of the Modem movement in architectural design,
there was a parallel movementin industrial design which promoted clean
smooth curved streamlinedshapes. The factthat many of the objectsdid
not move or experiencesignificant airflow around them did not seem to
matter. The excitingnew shapes of fighter aircraft, racing cars and boats
were a symbol of the age.
Commonsense Aerodynamics
Most people, and that includes architects,without a sound grounding
in the science of fluid dynamics, frequently reach wrong conclusions
regarding the relationshipbetween the shape ofan object and its interaction with the surroundingairflow. This can be demonstrated by having
them rank the relative resistanceoffered by the cross sectionedrods with
smooth surfaces in Figure 1to an airflow of 94 nds from left to right.
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Volume 42
Mean Frratrcxm
flow is laminar and shear forces between adjacent layers of fluid, moving
at different speeds,are dominated by the fluid's cohesive viscous forces.
At Reynolds numbers greater than about 3,000 flow is turbulent, dominated by the inertia forces exerted by moving fluid particles and the
momentum of fluid eddies. Between these values 2000-3000 there is an
unstable transition zone where flow switches randomly between
laminar and turbulent conditions [2].
Reynolds numbers of airflow around large objects, such as buildings, tend to be large because of the large
- length
- facror and the low
vi&sityofair. Flow pattemsaroundlargeblufflxldies,suchas most
sharp-edgedbuilding shapes, are relatively constant over the normally expected wind speed range because flow separation will
always occur at the sharp external comers. It is this certainty which
permits the testing of small wind tunnel models of large buildings at
relatively low tunnel speeds, neglecting similitude of Reynolds
numbers,without significant error in surface pressure distribution
patterns.
Eddies in Wake
VERTICAL SECTION
PLkX \IEW
the laminar flow over the curved surface into turbulent flow, the vaiying
flow patterns for a given wind direction in laminar flow are reduced to a
single flow pattern [l].This can eliminate the significant variability in
pressure distributionwith wind speed that occurs over smooth curved
surfaces.
It is for ths reason that one must be alert to the possibility for the need
to achieve laminar flow (match Reynolds numbers) around some small
building elements in order to achieve reliable results from wind tunnel
studies of natural ventilation. Some wind tunnel consultantson natural
ventilationadjust thetunnelwindspeed to thatofa breezeat Fullscaleand
fit Full scale insect screen material into openings of 1/50 scale models to
maintain relevant Reynolds numbers through the screens.
Reynolds Number
In order to be able to predict the points at which separationis likely to
occur on a streamlined body, we need to know the relative intensity of
inertia forces related to the momentum of the moving fluid to the
cohesive forces in the fluid due to its viscosity. The rario of the inertia
forces toviscousforcesat a point in a fluid flow is called Reynolds Number
(Re)
Boundary Layers
Molecules of fluids at the surface of solid objects stick firmly to that
object's surface. When the fluid moves past a solid surface a shearing
stress is established in the fluid between the stationary particles at the
surface and adjacent moving fluid panicles. The layer between the
stationary fluid particles and the layer where particles have reached 99%
of the freestream velocity is called a boundary layer.
Re=-pPVL
(1)
where p is the mass density of the fluid (1.2 kg/m3 for air), V is the
freestreamfluid viscosity(mis),p is the dynamic viscosityof the fluid (18
x 106kg/ni.stypical for air), and L is the streamwise chord length (m) in
the case of the streamlined bodies and the width (m) normal to the flow
in the case of bluff bodies.
Pressures in Fluids
3.0r
u"*
.-5
2.0-
3
p
a"
1.0-
"~
la1
FLOW
When a unit mass of a fluid has the potential to move vertically in the
eanh's gravitational field due to differencesin density then it possesses
potential energy pressure equal to pgz, where p is the mass density of
the fluid (kg/m)),g is the acceleration due to giavity,9.81 mls'and z is
the vertical distance in metres of potential movement referenced to
some datum.
FLMi
10
106
10
Reynolds Number
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Lift Force
As air flows around a solid body it exerts varying degreesof air pressure
around the surfaces of the object. If the tocal effect of surface pressures
normal to the direction of the flow on either side of the object are not
equal and opposite in direction, then the net resulting force, normal to
v > v,
&rnoullis cquarioo
valid for mean flows
Bernoulli Equation
Daniel Bernoulli first presented his equation in 1738. The
Bernoulli equation relates fluid pressure energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy along a streamline in steady flow of an
incompressible,inviscid (non-viscous)fluid. Simplifyingassump
rions made in deriving this equation are:
the direction of the airflow,is referred to as the lift force. In the vertical
plane, most buildings are attached to the ground plane. This condition,
being attached to the ground, usually increases the lift force on the roof
of the building because there is no opportunity for flow under the
building to create a downward acting lift force.
Architects often believe that by designing smooth cuived building
shapes they will reduce the drag force, F, , on a building due to wind .
While this is often the case with respect to pressure drag in the direction
of the floor, they are often simultaneouslyincreasing potentially more
dangerous lift forces,F,, normal to the directionof the floor. Lift and drag
forces are expressed as coefficients C, and C, relative to the dynamic
pressure of the approaching flow and, A, the projected area of the Ix)dy
(normal to the flow for drag and parallel to the flow for lift).
C, = F,, / A 0.jpV
(4)
C,= F,/AO.jpV
(3
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Volunie 42
k
a Gubie Rooj'kd Building
n = SVz/b
(6)
where Vz is the mean wind speed at height z and b is the crosswind
dimension of the building. The Strouhal number for rectangular sections
is 0.15 and for circular sections is 0.20 for bVz less than 7 and 0.2j when
bVz is greater than 7 .
Shedding of leeward vortices from alternate sides of the wake induces
critical oscillating lift forces on tall slender buildings.
Drag Force
Drag forces act in the direction of flow on a body in a sready air flow.
Drag force is the sum of viscous skin friction force and pressure drag
which results from net differencesin surface pressures on the windward
and leeward sides of the body.
Skin friction forces on buildings are proponional to the flow velocity
and inversely proportional to the size of the object in the airflow. This is
whydustcanonlymoveslowlythroughair.Drag forcedue toskin friction
on buildings is usually small when compared to the pressure drag force.
It can be significantin the case of buildings with very long dimensions in
the direction of the airflow when flow reattaches to the roofand walls of
the building [4].
Pressure drag is influenced by the squareof the velocity, the frontal area
of the body and the cross-sectional area of the body's wake. That is why
sports car designers taper the rear of their vehicles by about 12 degrees
to maintain an attached flow and decrease the cross-sectionalarea of the
wake.
C, = P/0.5pV2
(7)
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