A Comparative Study of the Use of Experimental and Computational Techniques to Assess Turbulence Above the FATO to Support the Design and Operations of Vertiports in the Built Environment

Turbulence conditions at hospital heliports in the built environment are routinely assessed at the design stage through experimental, physical testing in boundary layer wind tunnels. Wind tunnel testing is the gold standard to evaluate wind conditions on and around buildings where human safety is of the upmost concern. Numerical techniques, such as computation fluid dynamics (CFD) are continuously improving and may offer a viable alternative to wind tunnel testing in some cases. Within the CFD toolbox, there are several techniques to simulate a flow field in an urban or suburban context. These techniques have advantages and disadvantages in terms of ease of use, efficiency, costs, level of fidelity, and reliability. This paper compares high-fidelity CFD tools to wind tunnel testing for two vertiport case studies in different urban settings with different wind climates. The results of this research inform the selection of the right tool to support vertiport design and operations and to protect public safety.