Numerical Investigation of the Built Urban Environment Immersed in Atmospheric Boundary Layer

This thesis focuses on numerical investigation of the built-environment immersed in atmospheric boundary layer using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The thesis has two parts. In part 1, Pedestrian Level Wind (PLW) maps were developed for downtown Toronto using a novel CFD model linked with Meteorology data at Toronto airport weather stations. This resulted in real-time and statistical wind speeds at pedestrian level. Resulting wind speeds were validated using measurements from a local weather station at University of Toronto. In part 2, a new inflow turbulence generator was developed to obtain accurate aerodynamic forces for tall buildings using Large Eddy Simulation. The model relies on calibrating an existing inflow generator to improve its accuracy. The resulting model yielded average of 10% lower error for the dynamic forces compared with the uncalibrated model. The presented CFD models in parts 1 and 2 lead to accurate wind engineering applications in the built-environment.