Urban wind corridor assessment depending on the differences in building structures and vegetation scenarios using CFD simulation

Abstract:

Wind corridor assessment in urban areas is of importance in solving air pollution and urban heat island problems introduced by the urbanization. This study aims to simulate the wind corridors in two different urban structures with the scenario of the vegetation existence. We selected two test sites, the open high-rise area (A) and the compact low-rise area (B), where both are located in Seoul, South Korea. After generating 3D models and meshes, the k-epsilon model was applied to models. We set the wind speed and direction as 3 m/s and northwest, respectively. Three vegetation scenarios were tested in the sites; scenario-1: non-vegetation; scenario-2: 10 m height of trees; scenario-3: 10 m height of trees with 1.2 m height shrub. Vegetations were planted along both sides of the boulevard in 10 m intervals. The results showed that the distributions of the wind velocities in the sites were significantly different by the building structures and by the vegetation scenarios. In site A, compared from scenario-1, the changes in wind velocities distributed between -1.79 to 1.70 (m/s, north) and -2.10 to 2.02 (m/s, west) with scenario-2. With scenario-3, in site A, the changes in wind velocities distributed between -1.71 to 1.69 (m/s, north) and -2.11 to 2.09 (m/s, west). In the case of site B, compared from scenario-1, the changes in wind velocities distributed between -1.95 to 1.68 (m/s, north) and -1.46 to 0.78 (m/s, west) with scenario-2. With scenario-3, in site B, the changes in wind velocities distributed between -1.82 to 1.74 (m/s, north) and 1.30 to 0.69 (m/s west). Briefly, wind velocities could be significantly changed by vegetation scenarios. Therefore, a reasonable arrangement of vegetation is required in urban planning.

Acknowledge: This work was supported by Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through Urban Ecological Health Promotion Technology Development Project, funded by Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE)(2020002770002).