Critical Assessment of Selected Urban Microclimate Model Frameworks

Abstract

This paper presents a critical assessment of six computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. This study describes a few complex CFD frameworks in order to better understand the considerable task that is undertaken when attempting to develop such software. The paper focuses on models that were developed to simulate wind flow and the thermal microclimate around single and/or multiple buildings. Two of the selected models account for one or more embedded tree arrays. Additional information is provided regarding numerical methods, physics/turbulence algorithms, model domain, grid spacing, time-step, runtime, and computer platform. The main difficulties and/or deficiencies with each modeling approach are also discussed. It is anticipated that this study (overall) will provide much useful information, from which to initiate new modeling efforts.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA435329

Entities

People

  • Arnold D. Tunick

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Buoyancy
  • Compressible Flow
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Simulations
  • Differential Equations
  • Dynamics
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow
  • Mathematical Models
  • Meteorology
  • Three Dimensional
  • Turbulence
  • Two Dimensional
  • Urban Areas
  • Viscous Flow

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Materials Science
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space