Tecplot helps visualise stadium conditions

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia, is being redeveloped and Tecplot has been used to visualise the impact of proposed design changes.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is Australia's biggest and most popular stadium.

It is an extremely busy venue accommodating International Cricket, Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, soccer, concerts, dinners and other major functions on its natural turf field.

In 1999 preliminary planning commenced to redevelop the northern side of the stadium (Ponsford Stand, Members Pavilion and Olympic Stand).

The current conditions at the MCG prevented it from moving forward as a first-class international sporting venue - the facilities were no longer up to modern standards.

A $250 million redevelopment proposal was approved in December 2001.

The Connell Mott MacDonald Arup Joint Venture was appointed as the engineering contractor for the project.

Their responsibilities include all of the mechanical, electrical, civil, structural and building services engineering for the project.

When complete, the MCG will be one of the most innovative and environmentally progressive stadiums in the world.

A key objective of the redevelopment project is to design an environmentally sustainable MCG.

Significant environmentally sustainable features for the MCG will include, solar electricity panels, solar hot water and roof top water collection Ventilation is another key environmental factor in the new facility.

Connell Mott MacDonald has optimised the design using PHOENICS (a computational fluid dynamics program) to model and Tecplot to visualise the air flow within and around the new stadium.

Key ventilation studies have included atrium smoke modelling, spectator comfort conditions in the seated areas of the bowl and general air movement patterns within the internal areas of the stand.

They also investigated dispersion of exhaust discharges from high level plant rooms and relative changes in air movement patterns across the pitch due to the construction of the new stand.

A major new feature of the building is its air conditioning system.

Designed to compensate for the very high ceilings of the building, it limits the spread of smoke in case of fire and enables safe evacuation.

Demolition commenced in April 2002 and the entire project should be completed by the end of 2005.

In March 2006 the MCG will be the main stadium for the Commonwealth Games.

Tecplot is supplied and supported in the UK and Ireland by Adept Scientific plc.

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