Wind tunnel measurement of pedestrian-level gust wind flow and comfort around irregular lift-up buildings within simplified urban arrays

The implementation of lift-up buildings has demonstrated their practicality in enhancing urban wind comfort in high-density cities. The pedestrian-level wind environment around a central lift-up building surrounded by low-rise buildings was measured using wind tunnel experiments. The time-averaged velocity field and turbulence statistics, including the turbulent kinetic energy, normal component of the Reynolds stresses, gust factor, and gust wind velocity field, were discussed. Based on the results, the pedestrian-level gust wind flow and comfort for two typical building shapes (Arc, V-shaped) were compared with Rectangular lift-up buildings under different wind directions (0^∘, 90^∘ and 180^∘), the pedestrian-level wind environments (PLWEs) were assessed following two wind criteria for weak and windy wind conditions by wind speed thresholds and maximum allowed exceedance probabilities. The results showed that the erection of the high-rise lift-up building modified the pedestrian-level wind environment around the building groups, owing to the interaction between the downwash flow around the building and the surrounding building blocks. A region of high mean and gust wind velocity was observed at the lateral and rear side of the central lift-up building due to the lateral entrained wind and Venturi effect between elevated columns, indicating that lift-up buildings can enhance PLWEs even in the presence of surrounding buildings. The Arc-shaped lift-up building tends to generate a larger “Intolerable” area compared with V- and Rectangular-shaped buildings due to its curved surface. The wind impacts the convex portion of the building, leading to airflow divergence and facilitating downstream ventilation.