Comparative Studies of Computational Fluid Dynamic Geometric Models at Multiple Levels of Details in Evaluating Wind Action on Asian Ancient Wooden Tower

Ancient wooden architectures have complex shapes and various components, thus the choice of different detail levels geometric models is a major concern in architectural heritage Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. This paper exhibits detailed comparisons of CFD simulation with multiple Level of Detail (multi-LoD) geometric models in predicting wind pressure on a complex high-rise wooden pagoda (tower). The results reveal that it is sensible and feasible to model the pagoda CFD geometric model by Revit and predict the wind pressure by the Realizable k-ε turbulence model. The higher LoD model makes CFD results more consistent with those in the wind tunnel test, especially on the leeward of the pagoda. The components that affect the shape of the structure (e.g., the railings, ridges, and columns) have a great influence on the wind field. Rather, the components hidden in the architectural shape (e.g., Dougong) hardly affect the wind field. This paper aims to further understanding the CFD simulation with multi-LoD geometric models in evaluating the wind effects and assessing structural safety on a high-rise wooden pagoda. It also provides a basis for the modeling and CFD analysis of ancient wooden architecture.