Study on aerodynamic shape optimization of tall buildings using architectural modifications in order to reduce wake region

One of the most important factors in tall buildings design in urban spaces is wind. The present study aims to investigate the aerodynamic behavior in the square and triangular footprint forms through aerodynamic modifications including rounded corners, chamfered corners and recessed corners in order to reduce the length of tall buildings wake region. The method used was similar to wind tunnel numerical simulation conducted on 16 building models through Autodesk Flow Design 2014 software. The findings revealed that in order to design tall 50 story buildings with a height of about 150 meters, the model in triangular footprint with aerodynamic modification of chamfered corner facing wind direction came out to have the best aerodynamic behavior comparing the other models. In comparison to the related reference model (i.e., the triangular footprint with sharp corners and no aerodynamic modification), it could reduce the length of the wake region about 50% in general. Also, the model with square footprint and aerodynamic modification of chamfered corner with the corner facing the wind could present favorable aerodynamic behavior comparing the other models of the same cluster. In comparison to the related reference model (i.e., the square footprint with sharp corners and no aerodynamic modification), it could decrease the wake region up to 30% lengthwise.