With the rapid development of computers, CFD simulations, or simply CFDs, are moving to the forefront of cutting-edge research in the science of fluid dynamics and heat transfer.

Increasingly, CFDs are an integral part of engineering design in leading industries. Companies are progressively seeking industrial solutions through the extensive use of CFDs for product and process optimization and/or prediction of the performance of new designs, even before they are manufactured or implemented. Simulation software can provide numerical analysis and solutions to specific flow problems through the use of ordinary computers. As a viable design tool, CFDs have helped to visualize and understand significant flow characteristics in equipment and processes to increase production, improve durability and decrease waste. The increasing computing power of computers is transforming the use of CFDs in new and existing industries.

Specifically in Civil Engineering, CFD simulations are becoming an increasingly used tool to calculate more specific pressure coefficients on particular building surfaces. While the Technical Building Code (CTE) standards set wind coefficients for surfaces exposed to wind, a particularized CFD study defines more accurate coefficients on the study surfaces or on concrete components on the façade that allow both optimizing this particular component and the general structure itself.

In many cases, the coefficients set by the CTE are overestimated since the building is surrounded by others that change these coefficients by reducing them due to the fact that certain walls do not see the clean wind flow as other more exposed walls do since they are on the leeward side of the buildings surrounding the building under study.

The following image gallery shows the flow velocity in different section planes of the building.

It should be taken into account that the exposure coefficients established by the CTE do not take into account the influence on the wind flow of adjacent structures. They are, therefore, coefficients for isolated buildings in the most conservative conditions.

On the other hand, in certain situations, the wind flow can be accelerated by adjacent buildings in very particular wind directions, exceeding the standards.

In Atreydes Engineering, we have the experience to work with CFD simulations, understanding the wind flow and calculating the specific pressure coefficients for specific wind directions and morphologies of singular buildings, providing a more accurate value on wind engineering in Civil Engineering, without having to resort to expensive wind tunnel tests that are delayed in time.

Notably, both CFD simulation and wind tunnel tests are valuable tools that allow architects and engineers to better understand wind loads on buildings and design safer and more efficient structures.