Numerical investigation on tornado-like flows and immersed bodies using vortex models

Resumo

A study on the characteristics of real and experimentally simulated tornado flows is carried out in this
work using a numerical formulation based on the model of Vatistas et al. [1]. The flow governing equations are
discretized using an explicit two-step Taylor-Galerkin scheme and a finite element formulation is used for spatial
discretization, where eight-node hexahedral elements with reduced integration are used. Tornado flow fields are
reproduced numerically from a velocity profile model by Vatistas et al. [1], where time-dependent boundary
conditions are used to account for tornado vortex translation. Turbulence modeling is performed using Large
Scale Simulation (LES) with the Smagorinsky sub-grid scale model and the computational code is parallelized
using CUDA FORTRAN directives for processing on graphics cards. An experimentally generated tornado flow
field is reproduced using the model implemented here and a cubic building model subjected to different tornado
flow conditions is also analyzed. Results demonstrate that the velocity profile models are able to satisfactorily
reproduce the tornado flow fields and the corresponding aerodynamic forces on immersed bodies.