CFD for Atmospheric Flows and Wind Engineering
DATE: 31 May - 04 June 2027
LOCATION: online / on-site: Waterloosesteenweg, 72, 1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium - near Brussels
ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES
There is increasing interest for the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to the study of flows in the lower part of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The simulation of atmospheric flows, often over complex domain, is necessary for the estimation of wind loads on buildings, wind turbine siting, pollutant dispersion and pedestrian wind comfort.
The present hybrid Lecture Series (on-site and online) offers a wide overview of the state-of-the-art, with applications ranging from microclimate, wind engineering, to mesoscale, meteorology, and their coupling. Reynolds-Averaged (RANS) and Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches are discussed and their respective capabilities at meso- and microscales are evaluated, with focus on realistic inflow, wall modelling, uncertainty quantification and validation. Emerging trends such as the use of graphics processing units (GPUs) for acceleration of high-fidelity simulations are also addressed, including a tutorial of the open-source GPU-resident FastEddy code.
The lecture series director is prof. Wim Munters from the von Karman Institute.
PROGRAMME
Monday 31 May 2027
08:30 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 09:15 Welcome address
09:15 - 10:45 Introduction to the simulation of atmospheric flows
Prof. Bert Blocken, Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom & KU Leuven, Belgium
10:45 - 11:15 Coffee Break
11:15 - 12:45 Introduction to the simulation of atmospheric flows
Prof. Bert Blocken, Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom & KU Leuven, Belgium
12:45 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15 Turbulence model formulation and dispersion modelling for the CFD simulation of flows around obstacles and on complex terrains
Prof. Alessandro Parente, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
15:15 - 15:45 Coffee Break
15:45 - 17:00 Turbulence model formulation and dispersion modelling for the CFD simulation of flows around obstacles and on complex terrains
Prof. Alessandro Parente, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
17:00 Reception in VKI canteen
Tuesday 1 June 2027
09:00 - 10:30 Mesoscale modelling of atmospheric flows with applications to offshore wind energy, part 1
Prof. Wim Munters, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Mesoscale modelling of atmospheric flows with applications to offshore wind energy, part 2
Prof. Wim Munters, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15 Modelling wind energy in the atmospheric boundary layer
Prof. Michael F. Howland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
15:15 -15:45 Coffee Break
15:45 - 17:00 Introduction to uncertainty quantification for atmospheric boundary layer flows
Prof. Catherine Gorlé, Stanford University, USA
Wednesday 2 June 2027
09:00 - 10:30 Bayesian uncertainty quantification for atmospheric flow and wind energy applications
Prof. Michael F. Howland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Uncertainty Quantification for environmental wind engineering applications
Prof. Catherine Gorlé, Stanford University, USA
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15 Predicting wind loading on buildings
Prof. Catherine Gorlé, Stanford University, USA
15:15 - 15:45 Coffee Break
15:45 - 17:00 Large-eddy simulation of atmospheric flows
Dr. Branko Kosovic, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Thursday 3 June 2027
09:00 - 10:30 Large-eddy simulation of atmospheric flows (cont’d)
Dr. Branko Kosovic, Johns Hopkins University, USA
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Large-eddy simulation of atmospheric flows (cont’d)
Dr. Branko Kosovic, Johns Hopkins University, USA
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15 Multiscale modelling of the atmospheric boundary layer: coupling challenge and the cell perturbation method
Dr. Domingo Munoz-Esparza, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA
15:15 - 15:30 Coffee Break
15:30 - 16:30 Visit of the VKI Labs
16:30 - 17:00 Tutorial on FastEddy GPU Large-eddy simulation code
Dr. Domingo Munoz-Esparza, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA
Friday 4 June 2027
09:00 - 10:30 Multiscale modelling of the atmospheric boundary layer: from weather to resolved turbulence eddies with accelerated GPU LES
Dr. Domingo Munoz-Esparza, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA
10:30 - 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:30 Mesoscale to microscale wind farm flow modelling and evaluation
Dr. Javier Sanz Rodrigo, Siemens Gamesa, Spain
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:15 Mesoscale to microscale wind farm flow modelling and evaluation
Dr. Javier Sanz Rodrigo, Siemens Gamesa, Spain
15:15 - 15:30 Coffee Break
15:30 - 17:00 Seminar on "wind-wave coupling"
To be determined
FEE AND REGISTRATION
- Deadline for on-site registration: 17 May 2027
- Deadline for online registration: 24 May 2027
- Discount of 10% in case of online participation*
- Discount of 30% for citizens from NATO countries*
- Discount of 40% for citizens from NATO nations supporting the financing of VKI*
* applicable on the price listed below
Early Bird Registration until 31 March 2027
- Undergraduate students: €315
- PhD students: €864
- Staff from recognized universities / research center: €1368
- Staff from commercial organizations: €1728
Late Registration after 31 March 2027
- Undergraduate students: €350
- PhD students: €960
- Staff from recognized universities / research center: €1520
- Staff from commercial organizations: €1920