CFD INVESTIGATION OF AIRFLOW AROUND CONIC TENSILE MEMBRANE STRUCTURES

This paper is part of continuing research on the airflow around membrane structures. The research explores how the form and orientation of the structure itself affect the ventilation rates and the comfort level within the enclosures and in their immediate vicinity. This paper describes a study of the airflow patterns around and under conic tensile membrane structures covering open and semi-enclosed spaces using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) modelling, carried out in order to ascertain the potential of conic membranes of different forms for modifying the microclimate and improving human comfort. The reason for using CFD modelling is to give the opportunity to explore different geometries, to investigate the use of structure topology to assist in passive cooling and achieving higher comfort rates of spaces covered by membrane structures in hot climates