Study on the influence of voids on high-rise building on the wind environment

Li, Yangluxi; Chen, Lei

For wind energy harvesting, many relevant researches have been performed to investigate the potential of opening using in high-rise building. Ayhan and SaÄŸlam (2012) found that implanting cross-holes in building is an effective approach to enhance wind velocity to utilize wind energy. In addition, voids in building also can be considered as refuge storey which is indispensable for high-rise building. Hence, this dual purpose of openings has increasingly received attention from scholars due to its economic and environmental friendly. For wind energy utilization, most studies mainly focused Fig. 16(a) ). It concluded that the mean airflow velocity in holes can be enhanced by 25% if the recessed area is set at the inlet and outlet of opening and the curved wall is arranged at the corners. Apart from this, as the convergence -divergence channel is implemented, the average velocity increases by about 33%. Zhou et al. (2017) also performed some similar researches in terms of the opening patterns ( Fig. 16(b) ). The results showed that the composite prism diffuser pattern of holes could apparently amplified the wind velocity and the best aspect ratio for wind harvesting using this shape is 0.6. In addition to the above academic research, method of openings integrated wind turbine has been applied to practical projects. Figures 16(c) , (d), (e) present the case of Bahrain World Trade Centre, Castle House in London and Pearl River Tower. As the first wind energy integrated building all over the world, three 225 kW horizontal-axis wind turbines are mounted on the connecting bridge of Bahrain World Trade Centre in the tunnel shaped between two skyscrapers. The two particular shapes of buildings apparently lead to the large accumulated wind effect. In case of Castle House skyscraper in London, three horizontal axis wind turbines with 9 m diameter are used at the top of this building to meet the requirement of the entire mansion lighting. For Pearl River Tower in China, the voids are constructed for double goals of wind energy harvesting and refuge space. There are four tunnels shaped on the building with bell-mouth pattern at the inlet and outlet of openings as shown in Fig. 16(c) . Simultaneously, the concave wall on the south side and the convex wall on the north side could effectively magnify the wind speed and promote air to penetrate the tunnel. In this case, helix-shape vertical axis wind turbines mounted in every hollow can take fully advantage of wind energy to support whole mansion.