EASTechnology

Usually, the review is done at the design phase to allow architects and engineers making the right decision before proceeding further with the project. The review can compare two designs or more to decide which design will be less prone for the generation of the aeroacoustics noise. The review can also be focalized on a specific geometry within the building. The figures below compare two designs having two different geometries for the balustrades. The first design (design#1) has equally spaced balustrades, while the second design (design#2) has balustrades with a non-equal space. For both designs and for different wind speeds, CFD simulations were performed and velocity and pressure fluctuations were calculated at specific locations.

Design #1: Velocity Distribution	Design #2: Velocity Distribution
Design #1: Pressure fluctuations – Pseudo periodic Signal	Design #2: Pressure fluctuations –  Random signal

Pressure fluctuations generated from design#1 are almost periodic and therefore noise generated from these balustrades will be most likely of tonal noise type characterized by one or multi tones (peaks) occurring at specific frequencies. These tones can be heard from a far distance and can be very annoying to the human comfort inside or even outside the building.

Given the randomness of the pressure signal, design#2 will generate a broadband noise type. Contrary to the tonal noise, this type of noise does not exhibit any peak.  Depending on the location of the building, this noise can be masked by the existing background noise surrounding the building.

Based on the above findings, it is recommended to use Design#2 as this later will be less prone for an aeroacoustics noise generation.