10 tips for writing a truly terrible journal article

At a time when publication pressure and the quantity of publications are increasing, but the average quality of publications seems to be decreasing, guidance for early career researchers on how to write journal articles is increasingly relevant. Several best practice guidelines and rules have been published before. This article takes a different approach, by highlighting 10 things you should certainly NOT do. I’ve based them on my experiences in the exact sciences/engineering fields, but some of them may well hold true, whatever your discipline

Ten tips for a truly terrible peer review

There is probably no rule as applicable to the activity of peer review as the so-called “golden rule” or law of reciprocity: do not treat others in ways that you do not want to be treated yourself. This holds for the relation of the peer reviewer to the authors, the editor, and even the wider scientific community. As publication pressure and the quantity of submissions continue to increase, so does the need for high-quality peer reviews. Several best practice guidelines and rules have been published before. This document takes a different approach, by highlighting 10 things you should certainly NOT do. I’ve based them on my experiences in the exact sciences/engineering fields, but some of them may well hold true, whatever your discipline

LES over RANS in building simulation for outdoor and indoor applications:A foregone conclusion?

\u3cp\u3eLarge Eddy Simulation (LES) undeniably has the potential to provide more accurate and more reliable results than simulations based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. However, LES entails a higher simulation complexity and a much higher computational cost. In spite of some claims made in the past decades that LES would render RANS obsolete, RANS remains widely used in both research and engineering practice. This paper attempts to answer the questions why this is the case and whether this is justified, from the viewpoint of building simulation, both for outdoor and indoor applications. First, the governing equations and a brief overview of the history of LES and RANS are presented. Next, relevant highlights from some previous position papers on LES versus RANS are provided. Given their importance, the availability or unavailability of best practice guidelines is outlined. Subsequently, why RANS is still frequently used and whether this is justified or not is illustrated by examples for five application areas in building simulation: pedestrian-level wind comfort, near-field pollutant dispersion, urban thermal environment, natural ventilation of buildings and indoor airflow. It is shown that the answers vary depending on the application area but also depending on other—less obvious—parameters such as the building configuration under study. Finally, a discussion and conclusions including perspectives on the future of LES and RANS in building simulation are provided.\u3c/p\u3

Computational Fluid Dynamics for urban physics : importance, scales, possibilities, limitations and ten tips and tricks towards accurate and reliable simulations

Urban physics is the science and engineering of physical processes in urban areas. It basically refers to the transfer of heat and mass in the outdoor and indoor urban environment, and its interaction with humans, fauna, flora and materials. Urban physics is a rapidly increasing focus area as it is key to understanding and addressing the grand societal challenges climate change, energy, health, security, transport and aging. The main assessment tools in urban physics are field measurements, full-scale and reduced-scale laboratory measurements and numerical simulation methods including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). In the past 50 years, CFD has undergone a successful transition from an emerging field into an increasingly established field in urban physics research, practice and design. This review and position paper consists of two parts. In the first part, the importance of urban physics related to the grand societal challenges is described, after which the spatial and temporal scales in urban physics and the associated model categories are outlined. In the second part, based on a brief theoretical background, some views on CFD are provided. Possibilities and limitations are discussed, and in particular, ten tips and tricks towards accurate and reliable CFD simulations are presented. These tips and tricks are certainly not intended to be complete, rather they are intended to complement existing CFD best practice guidelines on ten particular aspects. Finally, an outlook to the future of CFD for urban physics is given

Bicycle aerodynamics:history, state-of-the-art and future perspectives

\u3cp\u3eThe importance of aerodynamics in cycling is not a recent discovery. Already in the late 1800s it was recognized as a main source of resistance in cycling. This knowledge was only rediscovered in the late 1970s and 1980s, when aerodynamic concepts were applied to bicycle equipment and cyclist positions, leading to new world hour records and Olympic medals. The renewed interest for cycling aerodynamics is significantly growing with the production of a vast literature, focused on increasing the comprehension of cycling aerodynamics and on improving the aerodynamics of bicycle equipment. Finding the connection between the different subfields of cycling aerodynamics and linking new research with past discoveries is crucial to efficiently drive future studies. Therefore, the present paper provides a comprehensive review of the history and the state-of-the-art in cycling aerodynamics, focusing on one of its main aspects: the bicycle. First, a short history of the bicycle is presented. Next, some cycling power models are outlined and assessment methods for aerodynamic drag are discussed, along with their main advantages and disadvantages. The core of this review paper addresses the components constituting the bicycle: frame and tubes, wheels, handlebar and other equipment. Finally, some future perspectives on bicycle aerodynamics are provided.\u3c/p\u3

Guidelines for the required time resolution of meteorological input data for wind-driven rain calculations on buildings

An important question in wind-driven rain (WDR) calculations on buildings, either with semi-empirical formulae or with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), concerns the required time resolution of the meteorological input data: wind speed, wind direction and horizontal rainfall intensity. Earlier work has indicated that the use of 10-minute input data can provide accurate results, while the use of arithmetically averaged hourly data can yield significant underestimations in the calculated WDR amounts. This paper builds further on this earlier work by providing a detailed investigation of the parameters that determine the required time resolution for WDR calculations on building facades: (1) the averaging technique; (2) the building geometry and the position at the building facade and (3) the type of the rain event. It is shown that all three parameters can have a large influence on the required time resolution. Depending on these parameters, hourly or even daily wind and rain input data can provide accurate results, while in other situations they can lead to very large errors. Finally, guidelines for the required time resolution as a function of the influencing parameters are provided

Wind tunnel analysis of flow and dispersion in cross-ventilated isolated buildings: impact of opening positions

This paper presents a detailed experimental analysis of flow and dispersion by cross-ventilation in five generic isolated single-zone buildings with different opening positions. First, flow visualization is performed illustrating the highly transient flow and dispersion process dominated by a flapping jet with pronounced Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. Next, the mean velocity field, the turbulent kinetic energy field, the mean concentration field and the concentration fluctuation field are presented and analyzed. Finally, time histories of the instantaneous concentration in the building are provided. The contaminant dispersion in the cross-ventilated flow is strongly influenced by the overall flow pattern that is largely determined by the inlet opening position, while the outlet opening position seems less important. The results provide new insights in the flow and dispersion process inside cross-ventilated buildings and can be used to validate CFD simulations of flow and dispersion by cross-ventilation and for the subsequent establishment of new CFD best practice guidelines. It is also shown that the use of different ventilation performance parameters yields a different ranking of the configurations in terms of ventilation performance. Care should therefore be applied when evaluating ventilation performance based on only flow rates or velocities as opposed to dispersion quantities

The influence of the wind-blocking effect by a building on its wind-driven rain exposure

Wind-Driven Rain (WDR) is one of the most important moisture sources that affect the hygrothermal performance and the durability of building facades. The complexity of WDR has led to the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to predict the amount of WDR falling onto building facades. Recently, the CFD model for WDR simulation has been successfully validated for a low-rise building of complex geometry and for a range of rain events, providing confidence for further numerical studies. In this paper, the influence of the wind-blocking effect by a building on its WDR exposure is examined. Part of the latest WDR CFD validation study for the VLIET building and CFD simulations of the WDR distribution on four different single-building configurations are presented. It is shown that the wind-blocking effect is one of the main factors that govern the WDR distribution pattern. As a result, high-rise buildings do not necessarily catch more WDR than low-rise building