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FEATURES & BENEFITS
The following are some of the Features and Benefits of Virtualwind 2.1:
1. The Virtualwind front-end GUI is now available as a fully integrated plug-in to Google SketchUp. It appears within SketchUp as an added set of Virtualwind-specific icons and menus, as shown here:
After installing the Virtualwind software package, you simply launch Google SketchUp as usual, and the icons and menus automatically appear in the SketchUp window. Google SketchUp is one of the most extensively used 3D modeling programs in a wide variety of disciplines. The incorporation of the front-end as a SketchUp plug-in provides a powerful, easy-to-use interface for creating models for simulation in Virtualwind. The following is a sample of the Google SketchUp screen with the Virtuwalwind-specific icons and the Plugins menu:
2. Virtualwind has simplified the process of creating your wind simulation model by allowing you to import from GoogleTM 3D Warehouse, which contains millions of 3D models of existing structures and terrains, and use these models in the Virtualwind 2.1 simulator. The first step in achieving a realistic 3D wind flow simulation is to create an accurate model of the locale you are interested in - we call this your Domain. The Domain defines a virtual world in which our software simulates the outdoor environment. Within your Domain, there will typically be three types of geometries: buildings, canopies and terrain. If you are designing a structure to be constructed in a locale where other buildings are already present, those buildings will have an effect on your micro-environment, and your building will have an effect on them. If there are 2D structures (generally referred to as "canopies"), such as fences, wind blocks, sound barriers, etc, you can also model them. Last, but not least, if the terrain around your structure has hills, valleys, berms, etc., they will affect your micro-environment.
3. Once you have imported existing models into your Domain, you can use SketchUp to add to or edit the model. Create new additions or architectural modifications. Combine it with other SketchUp building models that you've designed. The photo-realistic representations of buildings from the 3D Warehouse can be displayed, providing simulation models that are much more visually compelling. The ability to import building models vastly simplifies the creation of urban environment models that are required for accurate flow modeling and visualization in Virtualwind. For example, the model of New York below was imported from the Google 3D Warehouse. This particular model still included the Twin Towers. So, we found a model of the Freedom Tower in the 3D Warehouse and replaced the Twin Towers:
4. When you are satisfied with the model you have created using Google SketchUp, Virtualwind's SketchUp Plug-In provides you with an additional toolbar of Virtualwind-specific icons to enable you to quickly and easily create a model that is ready for Virtualwind's advanced 3D wind flow simulation and visualization. Within SketchUp, Virtualwind's Validation Tools identify and visually highlight non-watertight geometries and problematic textures in the model. Non-watertight geometries are typically surfaces on building models that do not have contiguous adjoining edges (i.e., models that do not have a "wetted surface", a "water-tight" exterior). Problematic textures are usually faces with back-only textures or back texture different from front. The Virtualwind toolbar also provides Correction Tools to correct these issues. For non-watertight geometries, there are toolbar icons to remove zero-faced edges and to sew edges together, thereby helping to create a water-tight model. There are also toolbar icons to correct problematic textures. These model corrections are important to provide more accurate wind flow simulations.
5. Now that you have corrected problematic aspects of the model, buttons on the plug-in toolbar are used to export your model in the VWS format used by Virtualwind 2.1. Then, when you are ready to start running your Virtualwind simulation, simply click on the "Launch Virtualwind" icon in the SketchUp Plug-In toolbar or on your desktop. This is an example of the Virtualwind main window, showing the viewport on the right and the tree panel on the left:
6. If you do not wish to take the time to create watertight geometries in the model, the Virtualwind Solver can execute non-watertight models using Virtualwind's CanopySimulatorTM technology. The results are almost identical to those that are generated from a non-watertight model. Initial flow simulations can now be run much earlier in the design process, without the requirement for extensive changes to existing models you have imported or created.
7. The CanopySimulatorTM technology is based on the concept of "sheet geometry" (2-dimensional sheets) rather than "solid geometry" (3-dimensional water-tight structures). In addition to enabling simulation of non-water-tight 3-D structures, it also supports the analysis of wind blowing around structures such as fences, wind blocks, canopies, sound barriers, etc.
8. Enhanced flow visualization options have been added, which provide you with a broad selection of wind flow representations. These new flow visualizations enable you to more quickly identify potential problem areas in architectural designs. The software calculates wind speed at every location within the "domain" (a 3-dimensional cube that contains all of the houses, apartments, buildings and terrain). You can then decide how you want to visualize the wind. There are many different options built into the software for measuring and visualizing the wind flow - using colored arrows or colored planes to indicate various wind speeds, adding wind monitors at various points to measure and visualize wind velocities, adding "smoke bombs" to visualize 3-dimensional flow of the wind. If you want to visualize or measure the wind in a plane that is parallel to the ground, you can choose the height (this is the x-y plane). You can also visualize wind in either of the other two planes: a plane that is vertical to the ground and parallel to the direction of the incoming wind (x-z plane) or a plane that is vertical to the ground and perpendicular to the direction of the incoming wind (y-z plane).
9. Flow visualizations can be output as animations (AVI files), or individual frames at any point in the simulation can be output as still images (PNG files). This enables you to share the simulation results in meetings or send the results to colleagues and clients without requiring the entire simulation system.
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