An Overview of Arup Computational Fluid Dynamics Projects

In recent years, end users have become more concerned with the human experience and the personal comfort of the individual is becoming more important in the design of the built environment. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a tool that permits assessment of personal comfort. CFD is a stream of fluid mechanics that utilises numerical methods to analyse and solve problems involving fluid flows. The fundamental basis for these problems are the Navier-Stokes equations. While research applications of CFD are developing, as it the use of CFD in the aerospace industry, the use of CFD in Civil Engineering applications is currently at the cutting edge. Arup have recently developed a team to work on such projects and some of these will be presented in this paper. The paper will discuss the research question of each project, the methodology adopted in developing the models, the results of the simulations and some lessons learned going forward. Based on the projects done to date, it can be concluded that CFD has been shown to be a powerful tool that adds valuable information to fluid flow problems.