Comparing the impacts of geometry level of detail in computational wind engineering with on-site urban measurements

Urbanization has led to more than half of the world’s population living in cities. The design of sustainable and resilient urban environments is becoming increasingly critical to optimize the well-being of their inhabitants and the planet. One of the major challenges in achieving this is the complex wind flow patterns in densely built-up areas,...

From GIS to 3D flow simulations in urban environments

Urban physics is a multi-scale and interdisciplinary field, that combines science and engineering for the study of physical processes in urban areas. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is considered a powerful tool for the study of these processes. In the context of microscale phenomena these processes refer to the transfer of heat and mass in...

The effects of beach house configurations on dune-ward sediment transport

In the Netherlands, the coastal dunes are essential to protect the country against flooding. However, the rising sea levels increase the risk of flooding along these sandy shores. Moreover, due to a combination of human and natural activities, dune erosion has increased and will continue to do so in the coming decades. Besides flood protection,...

CFD, sensitivity analysis and optimisation to promote the formation of dunes

In 2017, the ‘Kustpact’, a Dutch national agreement, was signed to develop the Dutch coast without damaging its ecosystem nor its aesthetics. Consequently, the formation and protection of coastal dunes have become a focal point for research and development. For this reason, based on the idea of Performance-Based Design (PBD), this Master thesis...

Comparison of Remotely Sensed and Volunteered Geographic Information for water reservoirs

The surface water extent around the world is constantly changing due to natural factors (e.g. geology and over-abstraction of water), climate change (e.g. higher water evaporation due to warmer climate) or human activities (e.g. reservoir construction). Water reservoirs are important for the management of the ecosystem, as both humans and the...

Exploring the Effects of Void Decks on Urban Ventilation in Singapore: A Computational Design & Simulation Approach for Wind Microclimate-Informed Urban Planning

Rising temperatures due to climate change and the increased Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect both have a major impact on Singapore’s outdoor comfort. Research has reported an average UHI in Singapore of 4°C, which can even exceed 7°C at some times of the day. (Acero & Ruefenacht, 2017) Increasing convective surface heat transfer from the human...

Modeling tree topology effects on wind

Planting trees is widely considered an effective way to create a good urban wind environment, improve air quality, mitigate heat island effects, improve pedestrian wind comfort and reduce building energy consumption. To assess tree effects and find suitable tree setups in urban areas, Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations can be used.<br...

Urban computational fluid dynamics simulations set-up validations

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for residential areas are becoming increasingly important as the urban population keeps growing and extreme weather conditions due to climate change are becoming more prevalent. Since CFD simulations simulate and visualise fluid flows, users can analyse and predict air flows in urban environments,...

Urban Morphological Analysis for Wind Potential

Wind has a profound impact on the meteorological and environmental conditions in cities. And so, by understanding wind flow behaviour within the urban environment, we can use the increasingly available open data to contribute to the design of healthy cities. This Master’s thesis presents a methodology to compute urban morphological parameters...

Visualizing massive computation fluid dynamic outputs in game engines using voxelization and dynamic loading

Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are used in a diverse set of fields such as aerodynamics, automotive, biomedical engineering and wind impact. With the advancements in technology the scale of these simulations has increased significantly. This has resulted in \textit{massive} CFD simulations --- simulations that do not fully fit...

Removing shared faces in 3D datasets for numerical simulations

Currently more than 4 billion people live in urban areas around the globe, a trend that is expected to be increased in the upcoming years. While urbanisation provides the space for innovation and new opportunities, in the meantime physical, technical and social challenges are rising and the cities’ vulnerability is increasing. A tool to tackle...

Influence of 3D City Layout on Air Quality

In 2021, noise pollution monitoring will be mandatory in the Netherlands, which requires data on traffic that can be re-used for air quality estimation models. One of the important input parameters for the latter is the street type, which is required by the dilution parametrisation used within the air quality model.<br/>The goal of this project...