Computational study and experimental validation on the effect of inlet hole surface on airflow characteristics and thermal comfort in a box occupied by a thermal manikin

Abstract

In an indoor environment, many factors may affect the airflow characteristics and thermal comfort. Hence, a lot of research has been carried out in order to investigate the impact of these factors. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of supply area, with maintaining the same supply airflow rate, on the airflow characteristics and the indoor thermal comfort for a ventilated box prototype occupied by a thermal manikin. Understanding the behavior of the airflow in a mechanical ventilated box occupied by a thermal manikin is the main objective of this paper. Hence, numerical simulations were carried out using the software ANSYS FLUENT 17.0. According to the obtained results, the inlet velocity has a direct effect on the velocity fields, the temperature, the static pressure and the turbulence characteristics. In addition, the numerical results affirmed that the supply area has a direct impact on indoor thermal comfort.