CFD

DesignBuilder offers a simplified computational fluid dynamics (CFD) module to visualise airflow patterns through and around building structures.

Figure 1: Airflow around the Blue shed market at the V&A waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa

The course topic presents an overview of CFD and the underlying physics and numerical methods involved to obtain a converged solution. Multiple topics are covered ranging from how to create an acceptable grid, ensure stability and determine whether the solution is correct.

It is demonstrated how to create a model suitable for CFD, apply suitable boundary conditions and run a simulation. Examples of both internal and external CFD simulations are discussed along with the various tools presented in DesignBuilder to enable effective visualisation of the results.

Read about the software's modules in detail on the DesignBuilder website.