The WE-UQ Application is open-source software that provides researchers a tool to assess the response of a building subjected to wind loading. The application incorporates uncertainty quantification in the structures response to account for the users assumptions of the building properties and numerical modeling.
A CFD Model for an Isolated Building is implemented in WE-UQ Version 3.0.0. This feature enables users to run high-fidelity CFD simulations on single (isolated) buildings with rectangular floor plans. The simulation can be performed in full-scale or at reduced scale mimicking an actual wind tunnel setup. The current version implements a versatile CFD workflow where the user can seamlessly define the geometry of the building, generate unstructured mesh, define boundary conditions, specify the turbulence modeling and other numerical setups. The CFD simulation is conducted in parallel to obtain the transient wind loads on structures by running OpenFOAM solvers in the backend. Finally, the response of the structure is evaluated using OpenSees while propagating uncertainties of the structural properties. Because of the computational demand required for simulation, WE-UQ provides the researcher with access to the TACC Frontera HPC at no cost.
Download the new WE-UQ (V3.0.0) major release to take advantage of the new feature. Major releases are new versions of the application with modifications to the input file format. You will need to update your existing input files to this new format. Example 3.5 provided in the WE-UQ documentation includes input files with the new format that can easily be used as a template.
How to cite:
Frank McKenna, Abiy F. Melaku, Fei Ding, Jiawei Wan, Peter Mackenzie-Helnwein, Wael Elhaddad, and Michael Gardner (2023). NHERI-SimCenter/WE-UQ: Version 3.0.0 (v3.0.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8133017
Gregory G. Deierlein, Frank McKenna, Adam Zsarnóczay, Tracy Kijewski-Correa, Ahsan Kareem, Wael Elhaddad, Laura Lowes, Matt J. Schoettler, and Sanjay Govindjee (2020). A Cloud-Enabled Application Framework for Simulating Regional-Scale Impacts of Natural Hazards on the Built Environment. Frontiers in the Built Environment. 6:558706. DOI: 10.3389/fbuil.2020.558706