Abstract
As the automotive industry has grown and lifestyle has changed, the time spent in an automobile has been gradually increasing. Accordingly, thermal comfort for passengers inside the cabin of an automobile is more important than before. Thermal comfort can be affected by several factors, such as temperature, humidity, and air distribution inside the cabin, as well as airflow rate and air velocity from the air vents and air-handling unit (AHU). The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of changes in the pattern of discharge air from air vents connected with the vent duct and AHU on the thermal comfort in an automobile. The changed patterns of discharge air were of three types: diffuse-mode, focus-mode, and mix-mode. Cool-down performance and auto temperature-control performance experiments were performed to evaluate the thermal comfort of the front and rear passenger seats in the climate control wind tunnel. In addition, a road driving evaluation of the temperature difference between front and rear seats with two passengers was performed. As a result, focus- and diffuse-type air vents can be helpful for improving thermal comfort of passengers and the air stream of the cabin.
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