Frost, Adam; Wilson, Lyn; Orr, scott; Grau-Bove, Josep; (2025) Using CFD to understand water runoff behaviour: The SPH method applied to varied 3D stone surface geometries. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on the Deterioration and Conservation of Stone. (pp. pp. 607-613). : Paris, France.

Text 20250206AFStoneCongress2025FullPaperV3RevisedSubmission.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 26 November 2025. Download (758kB)

Abstract

Building stone surfaces and masonry walls have varied surface characteristics, often depending on their design, condition, dressing, use of materials and finishes. These properties can vastly change how traditional buildings perform under impinging wind-driven rainfall conditions. Surface change associated with moisture-based decay mechanisms can further worsen current hygrothermal building performance and lead to risks to occupant health and safety. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of water runoff in these contexts are often limited to 2D planar facade models, and often simplify or ignore complex drop behaviour such as splashing, bouncing or spreading. This work applies the smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation method to quantify the effect of different common stone and masonry surface geometries on the surface runoff from impinging rainfall. Different stone dressing typologies from the Scottish built environment are documented using sub-millimetre 3D scanning techniques. Simulated rainfall is modelled with consideration for the roughness and absorption boundary conditions associated with porous stone types. We show that SPH is a viable multiscale technique for quantifying water runoff volumes and rates, and analysis of water imbibement. Our results show that the approach can be used to help predictively model the water resilience of existing building stock and future building designs, particularly in the context of a changing climate with intensifying rainfall patterns.

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