Thermal and Airflow Characteristics of Transitional Spaces in a Traditional Urban Fabric Case Study of a Covered Walkway in Timimoun (South West of Algeria)

Abstract

The research presented in this article deals with the analysis of thermal and airflow patterns in a traditional compact urban fabric called „Ksar‟ located in the city of Timimoun in the South western part of the Algerian Sahara. It focuses on a particular typology of urban transitional spaces which is “a covered walkway ”. The aim of this research is to study the thermal and airflow characteristics of these particular spaces which affect the comfort of pedestrians and influence the ambiantal conditions of neighboring houses as well. The methodology conducted in this study consists principally in applying a computational fluid dynamics model to simulate the thermal airflow behavior of a transitional space. The computational fluid dynamics software, Fluent 6.3.26 is used for the simulation of the air flow and the temperature field traversing the streets. The results indicate that under peak Summer conditions, weak and strongly fluctuating air movements characterize the walkway and for perpendicular flow, the temperature generally decreases with an increase in velocity. Areas near the passage entrance are more affected by adverse wind conditions than other areas remote from it.