Computational of the wind velocity effect on infiltration rates in an individual building using multi-zone airflow model

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper presents and discusses numerical simulation of the wind velocity's effect on infiltration rates in an individual building using multi-zone modelling. The governing equations are expressed in terms of unknown pressures at points where flow paths connect. Their implementation was achieved using an advanced numerical model, which was developed via the MATLAB environment. Such a numerical approach has been validated through available results. A good agreement has been observed between available data and our study's results. Moreover, the model implemented allows to determine the reference pressure in each zone to compute the air infiltration rate by each connection. To perform this, a large range of input data is needed. These include leakage characteristics of airflow elements, wind pressure coefficients, and ventilation system characteristics. To sum up, it is found that the wind velocity increase produces a strongly variation on computed infiltration rates.