Abstract:

Sheltered walkways are common urban features in Singapore, as pedestrians utilise them as pathways to public transportation locations in Singapore. The walkways are essential in reducing users’ thermal discomfort and wetness in a tropical environment like Singapore, with high solar intensity and frequent and heavy rains. The need for protection from wind-driven rain is of particular concern in the design of sheltered walkways in Singapore. This part of the pedestrian’s comfort is often neglected. Sheltered walkways are built with vertical and 30° angled rainfall in mind. The considerations of the influence of wind are often neglected in the design of sheltered walkways, which results in a larger area of walkways receiving a high amount of rain penetration. To better evaluate the design of sheltered walkways, it is crucial to understand the pedestrian’s perspective, the correlation between wind and rain, and its effects on sheltered walkway design. Findings from the use of 3-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of wind flow and wind-driven rain for sheltered walkway designs are presented in this study. Additionally, a proposed microcontroller prototype, Arduino UNO, is built to validate the feasibility of the design solution. This study demonstrates the importance of considering wind-driven rain during the sheltered walkway design process.

Keywords: Shelter walkways, Wind-driven rain, Land Transport Authority, Computation fluid dynamics, Prototype design, Walk2Ride

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Cite as: “Guam YN and Fadeyi MO (2020). Optimisation of sheltered walkways performance to mitigate wind-driven rain in Singapore. Built Environment Applied Research Sharing #03, ISSUU Digital Publishing Platform.”