Comparison for assessment of wind environment in high-rise buildings using wind tunnel test and computational fluid dynamics

When a high-rise building is constructed adjacent to low-rise structures, damage is frequently caused by the associated strong wind patterns of which there are three typical forms. The first pattern is a separated flow which can occur at the corners of the buildings; the second is pilotis wind that occurs in narrow places such as columns installed in the lower parts of the high-rise building; and the third is a vortex flow which can occur between a low-rise building on the windward and a high-rise on the leeward. This study aimed to implement a standard evaluation of the wind environment and airflow characteristics around high-rise apartment blocks constructed next to low buildings using wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In terms of validity, the correlation coefficient between the CFD and wind tunnel results ranged between 0.6 and 0.8. Correlations below 0.8 were due to differences in the range of the wake flow area generated at the backside of the target building according to wind direction angle and the effect of the surrounding buildings. In addition, a difference in average velocity ratio of the wake flow wind was observed in the values measured by the wind tunnel test and in the CFD analysis. The wind velocity values of the CFD analysis were therefore compensated, and, as a result, although the correlations for some wind angles were slightly reduced, most increased.