  A moderate-sized (8 MW) fire was modeled in a warehouse located in an urban
area with diverse architecture, under wind conditions. The study investigates
the impact of neighboring architecture on the wind field and the resulting
effect on smoke control performance and smoke dispersion in the vicinity of the
building. 25 CFD simulations were performed using ANSYS Fluent CFD code, for
wind velocities of 5 m/s (moderate), 10 m/s (strong) at 12 wind angles each (0
- 330$^\circ$, 30$^\circ$ increment), and at 0 m/s for reference. The results
show that the performance of the building smoke venting system was impacted by
the wind, reaching 74% - 114% and 78% - 158% of the reference mass flow at
moderate and strong wind velocities, respectively. Interestingly, in multiple
cases, the exhaust flow rate of the ventilators was increased rather than
hindered by the wind. This was attributed to the arrangement of inlets and
outlets on the facades and the resulting pressure difference between the wall
and roof openings. The smoke plume was highly dependent on the wind angle and
the type of architecture upwind and downwind of the fire. Significant urban
canyon effects and large vortices forming behind tall buildings were observed,
leading to smoke accumulation at a significant distance from the fire.

Fluid Dynamics;Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics