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The optimization of computing methods along with the advance of construction technology of civil structures, allow nowadays to design and build lighter and low stiffness and damping structures, turning them into elements of high sensitivity against wind-induced dynamic effects. The purpose of this work is to describe and to apply a simple calculation methodology that enables the determination of the longitudinal dynamic response of tall buildings in time domain. The wind velocity field is reproduced by velocity series that incorporate the coherence function which then are transformed into fluctuating nodal forces using the quasi-static loading model. Furthermore, to include the effect of imperfect averaging associated with the discretized nodes, the aerodynamic admittance function is added. Through the proposed methodology two structures widely studied by other authors are analyzed: a steel tower and the CAARC Standard Tall Building. The results thus obtained show agreement with those reported in the literature.

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The present work shows the application of a change point model (CPM) algorithm, based on non-parametric tests, to turbulent structures detection in an airflow. It seeks to detect the vortices generated in the wake of an airfoil, equipped with a passive flow control device (Gurney mini flap) in its trailing edge. By applying CPM models to the sample data, this paper seeks to determine the possible changes to the velocity fluctuations and compare the models effectiveness to traditional methods. The main objective of this study is to detect the characteristic frequencies of the turbulent structures immersed in the airflow. The results show that the CPM methodology, based on the Cramer- von Mises (CPM-CvM) test, produces results that coincide with values predicted by traditional methods (less than 9.5% of mismatch), validating its use as a real time alternative tool for the analysis of these types of flows. Finally, this work shows a new application of CPM for detecting changes in a time-dependent random signal, which has an a priori unknown distribution.

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In this work we study the performance of some variational multiscale models (VMS) in the large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flows. We consider VMS models obtained by different subgrid scale approximations which include either static or dynamic subscales, linear or nonlinear multiscale splitting, and different choices of the subscale space. After a brief review of these models, we discuss some implementation aspects particularly relevant to the simulation of turbulent flows, namely the use of a skew symmetric form of the convective term and the computation of projections when orthogonal subscales are used. We analyze the energy conservation (and numerical dissipation) of the alternative VMS formulations, which is numerically evaluated. In the numerical study, we have considered three well known problems: the decay of homogeneous isotropic turbulence, the Taylor–Green vortex problem and the turbulent flow in a channel. We compare the results obtained using different VMS models, paying special attention to the effect of using orthogonal subscale spaces. The VMS results are also compared against classical LES scheme based on filtering and the dynamic Smagorinsky closure. Altogether, our results show the tremendous potential of VMS for the numerical simulation of turbulence. Further, we study the sensitivity of VMS to the algorithmic constants and analyze the behavior in the small time step limit. We have also carried out a computational cost comparison of the different formulations. Out of these experiments, we can state that the numerical results obtained with the different VMS formulations (as far as they converge) are quite similar. However, some choices are prone to instabilities and the results obtained in terms of computational cost are certainly different. The dynamic orthogonal subscales model turns out to be best in terms of efficiency and robustness.

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The variational multiscale method thought as an implicit large eddy simulation model for turbulent flows has been shown to be an alternative to the widely used physical-based models. This method is traditionally combined with equal-order velocity–pressure pairs, since it provides pressure stabilization. In this work, we consider a different approach, based on inf–sup stable elements and convection-only stabilization. In order to do so, we consider a symmetric projection stabilization of the convective term using an orthogonal subscale decomposition. The accuracy and efficiency of this method compared with residual-based algebraic subgrid scales and orthogonal subscales methods for equal-order interpolation is assessed in this paper. Moreover, when inf–sup stable elements are used, the grad–div stabilization term has been shown to be essential to guarantee accurate solutions. Hence, a study of the influence of such term in the large eddy simulation of turbulent incompressible flows is also performed. Furthermore, a recursive block preconditioning strategy has been considered for the resolution of the problem with an implicit treatment of the projection terms. Two different benchmark tests have been solved: the Taylor–Green Vortex flow with Re=1600, and the Turbulent Channel Flow at Reτ=395 and Reτ=590.

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Empirical Colebrook equation implicit in unknown flow friction factor (λ) is an accepted standard forcalculation of hydraulic resistance in hydraulically smooth and rough pipes. The Colebrook equation givesfriction factor (λ) implicitly as a function of the Reynolds number (Re) and relative roughness (ε/D) of innerpipe surface; i.e. λ0=f(λ0, Re, ε/D). The paper presents a problem that requires iterative methods for thesolution. In particular, the implicit method used for calculating the friction factor λ0is an application of fixed-point iterations. The type of problem discussed in this "in the classroom paper" is commonly encountered influid dynamics, and this paper provides readers with the tools necessary to solve similar problems. Students’task is to solve the equation using Excel where the procedure for that is explained in this “in the classroom”paper. Also, up to date numerous explicit approximations of the Colebrook equation are available where as an additional task for students can be evaluation of the error introduced by these explicit approximations λ≈f(Re,ε/D) compared with the iterative solution of implicit equation which can be treated as accurate.

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