Numerical studies on the wind effects on natural smoke venting of atria

Smoke management in the atrium with natural smoke venting is influenced by many parameters. These include the geometry of a building, external temperature and wind. The article presents the analyses of the impact of two wind speeds: 2.5 m/s and 7.5 m/s on conditions in the atrium. Volume flow rate of air inflowing to the atrium and the velocity of supply air in make-up air inlets were considered. The wind inflow from each direction was examined for two wind speed. This enabled the analyses of operation of particular make-up air inlets in variable external wind conditions. The possible impact of other buildings has been omitted. Moreover, the operation of exhaust openings was analysed. The subsequent step was examination of conditions in the atrium. The influence of wind, its speed and direction on soot mass fraction and its distribution in relation to the height of the atrium were considered. In addition, for some cases, visibility has been shown. It was proved that make-up air inlets located near the corner on the side wall parallel to the wind direction do not work properly, usually air flows through these openings to the outside. This allows to formulate guidelines for designers on the best locations of the inlet vents in buildings.