CFD for AEC

CFD for AEC

Shows how wind moves around your building right inside Revit, so you can spot windy corners, sheltered courtyards, and channeling while comparing early design options. Adds a layered 3D wind tunnel you can orbit, a wind rose for testing every prevailing direction, and a hand-off that packages your model for a detailed OpenFOAM study.

What it does

• Quick study – a wind picture at any height above a level, in seconds. Fast wind shows warm, calm wind shows cool, and small arrows show where the air goes. Paint the result onto a Revit plan or 3D view so it sits next to your drawings.
• Included geometry – choose what blocks the wind by category, by what you have selected in Revit, by name, or by a parameter, and preview exactly which elements will count before you run anything.
• Wind directions – build a wind rose by hand or from a weather file, then run every prevailing direction in one go and compare them.
• 3D wind tunnel – stack several wind layers over the full model, orbit around it, slice it along or across the wind, watch particles flow, and record a short video for a presentation.
• Detailed study – when a design needs an engineering-grade answer, export the same model and wind settings as a complete OpenFOAM case, and run it from your workstation.

When to use it

Concept and schematic design: comparing massing options, testing a courtyard or a screen, checking a windy corner at an entrance, or deciding where a terrace will feel sheltered. The quick study is a comparison tool for your own design decisions. For wind comfort sign-off, façade pressure, or anything safety-related, use the detailed study and have a CFD engineer review it.

How to run it

1. Open the Revit project you want to study.
2. Open BimCode's plugin list inside Revit and click CFD for AEC.
3. The window opens beside Revit, so you can keep selecting elements while it is open. Your settings are saved automatically for next time.

A walk through the screens

Quick study

Pick the ground level and the height to study (1.5 m is a typical pedestrian height), choose what blocks the wind, set the wind speed and the direction it comes from, and click Run wind study. The result shows the fastest wind, how many elements were included, and any warnings. Under Show the result in a Revit view, choose a plan or 3D view and click Show in Revit to display it with Revit's own analysis colours.

Included geometry

Click Preview included elements to see the blocked cells and a breakdown by category. Select in Revit and Isolate in view put the same elements in front of you in the model so you can check them.

Wind directions

Choose 4 to 36 directions, type the frequency and speed for each one, or import an EPW or CSV weather file. Run all directions solves every enabled direction; click a result to open it in the quick study.

3D wind tunnel

Load the Revit model, choose how many layers to solve between two heights, and click Run wind tunnel. Orbit, pan and zoom, cut a slice along or across the wind, show arrows, colour bands, flow lines or particles, and double-click any layer to read the wind speed at that point. Record video captures the animated view as an MP4.

Detailed study

Check whether OpenFOAM is installed on this computer, install it with one click if it is not, then Export the case and Run case. The export uses the same included geometry, wind direction and tunnel size as the 3D wind tunnel.

Saved setups

Every screen ends with a bar that saves your setup automatically, keeps named setups, and imports or exports them as a file to share with colleagues.

Limits

• The quick study and the 3D wind tunnel look at wind in horizontal layers. They are made for comparing options early, not for certifying pedestrian comfort, façade pressure, smoke, or life safety.
• Openings narrower than the cell size may close up. Use a smaller cell size when a door, window or gap matters.
• The OpenFOAM export is a prepared starting point. Geometry, mesh, boundaries and convergence still need an engineer's review before the result is used for a real decision.
• The detailed study needs Windows Subsystem for Linux and an OpenFOAM install; the plugin guides you through both.

See the user guide for a screen-by-screen tutorial.