Description

This study models conjugate heat transfer (CHT) in a simplified 4-story wind tower using ANSYS Fluent. The 2D geometry is built in DesignModeler, and a structured mesh of 6,375 elements is generated in ANSYS Meshing.

Wind Tower Methodology

CHT (combined conduction + convection) is solved within the tower. The diagonal wall on the right side is heated to 305 K and includes volumetric heat generation of 1000 W/m³. Incoming air enters at the top-left inlet with velocity = 12 m/s and temperature = 300 K, then distributes through all four levels for ventilation and cooling.

Natural-convection effects are included by enabling gravity in the Y direction and using the Boussinesq approximation for air density (ρ₀ = 1.225 kg/m³, β = 0.00331 1/K). The flow ultimately exits via a pressure outlet at the top-right of the tower.

Conclusion

Post-processing yields 2D velocity, pressure, and temperature contours, plus streamlines and velocity vectors. Temperature plots show heating from the diagonal wall and resulting thermal distributions. Flow visualizations indicate that upper levels receive higher-momentum inflow (lower hydraulic resistance), while lower levels exhibit recirculating/rotational cells driven by the forced inflow. As warm air rises along the hot wall, buoyancy carries it upward to the top-right outlet, completing the ventilation cycle.