ECCOMAS 2024

Flow Structures around the Burj Khalifa in 2D and 3D

  • Fan, Lushun (Cranfield university)
  • Teschner, Tom (Cranfield university)
  • Li, Jun (Cranfield university)

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As the per capita residential land area decreases, there's a growing demand for skyscrapers, leading to a more in-depth exploration in building aerodynamics research. Consequently, there has been an uptick in the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the field of architecture. The study of wind loads and the phenomenon of vortex shedding has taken on greater importance due to the reported damage to buildings in numerous literatures. Efforts have been made to calculate the wind speeds at various building heights by utilizing the wind shear power law. This study investigates the vortex shedding phenomenon of wind flow by constructing and simulating the airflow around the Burj Khalifa through a mathematical pipeline, encompassing model acquisition, grid generation, simulation calculation, and post-processing. The research develops two-dimensional cross-sectional models and a three-dimensional model of the tower at three distinct heights. These simulations furnish a wealth of invaluable datasets. Among many computational models, the K-omega SST is selected as the primary model for calculation. The results indicate that while Karman vortex streets manifest in the results of 2D cross section simulations at different heights, the 3D simulation does not produce regular vortex shedding around the Khalifa tower. This implies that Karman vortex streets are not generated in the 3D simulation.