THERMAL SCIENCE
International Scientific Journal
AN APPROACH TO THE MODELING OF A VIRTUAL THERMAL MANIKIN
ABSTRACT
The aim of the research described in this paper, is to make a virtual thermal manikin that would be simple, but also robust and reliable. The virtual thermal manikin was made in order to investigate thermal conditions inside vehicle cabins. The main parameters of the presented numerical model that were investigated in this paper are mesh characteristics and turbulence models. Heat fluxes on the manikin's body segments obtained from the simulations were compared with published results, from three different experiments done on physical thermal manikins. The presented virtual thermal manikin, meshed with surface elements of 0.035 m in nominal size (around 13,600 surface elements) and in conjunction with the two-layer RANS Realizable k-ε turbulence model, had generally good agreement with experimental data in both forced and natural flow conditions.
KEYWORDS
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2013-01-15
PAPER REVISED: 2013-07-26
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2013-08-05
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2013-08-17
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR
2014, VOLUME
18, ISSUE
Issue 4, PAGES [1413 - 1423]
- Parsons, K., Human thermal environments: The effects of hot, moderate and cold environments on human health, comfort and performance, 2nd Edition. Taylor & Francis, London, UK, 2003
- Nilsson, H., Comfort Climate Evaluation with Thermal Manikin Methods and Computer Simulation Person, Ph. D. thesis, University of Gävle, Sweden, 2004
- ***, ISO 14505-2: 2008, Ergonomics of the thermal environment - Evaluation of the thermal environment in vehicles, Part 2: Determination of equivalent temperature
- Han T., et al. Virtual Thermal Comfort Engineering, SAE Paper 2001-01-0588, 2001
- Huizenga, C. et al., A Model of Human Physiology and Comfort for Assessing Complex Thermal Environments, Building and Environment 36 (2001), pp. 691-699
- Voelker, C., Kornadt, O., Human body's micro-climate: measurement and simulation for the coupling of CFD with a human thermoregulation model, Proceedings Building Simulation 2011: 12th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, 2011, Sydney, Australia, pp. 2048-2054
- Tanabe, S. et al., Evaluation of thermal comfort using combined multi-node thermoregulation (65MN) and radiation models and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Energy and Buildings 34 (2002), pp. 637-646
- Kilic M., Sevilgen G., Modelling airflow, heat transfer and moisture transport around a standing human body by computational fluid dynamics, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 35 (2008), pp. 1159-1164
- Zhu, S. et al., Development of a Computational Thermal Manikin Applicable in Non-Uniform Thermal Environment - Part 2: Coupled Simulation Using Sakoi's Human Thermal Physiological Model, HVAC&R Research, 14 (2008) 4, pp. 545-564
- Sorensen, D. N., Voigt, L. K., Modelling flow and heat transfer around a seated human body by computational fluid dynamics, Building and Environment 38 (2003), pp. 753-762
- Martinho, N. et al., CFD Modelling of Benchmark Tests for Flow Around a Detailed Computer Simulated Person, Proceedings 7th International Thermal Manikin and Modelling Meeting - University of Coimbra, Portugal, 2008
- De Dear, R. et al., Convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients for individual human body segments, International Journal of Biometeorology 40 (1997), pp. 141-156
- Kilic M., Sevilgen G., Evaluation of Heat Transfer Characteristics in an Automobile Cabin with a Virtual Manikin During Heating Period, Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications: An International Journal of Computation and Methodology, 56 (2009) 6, pp. 515-539
- Sevilgen, G., Kilic, M., Numerical analysis of air flow, heat transfer, moisture transport and thermal comfort in a room heated by two-panel radiators, Energy and Buildings, Vol. 43 (2011) pp. 137-146
- Sevilgen, G., Kilic, M., Three dimensional numerical analysis of temperature distribution in an automobile cabin, Thermal Science, Vol. 16 (2012) 1, pp. 321-326
- Nilsson, H. et al., CFD modeling of thermal manikin heat loss in a comfort evaluation benchmark test, Proceedings Roomvent 2007: 10th International Conference on Air Distribution in Buildings, Helsinki, Finland, 2007
- Nilsson, H. et al., Benchmark Test for a Computer Simulated Person - Manikin Heat Loss for Thermal Comfort Evaluation, Aalborg University Denmark and Gävle University, Aalborg, Sweden, 2007
- Ružiæ, D., Analysis of airflow direction on heat loss from operator's body in an agricultural tractor cab, Proceedings (S. Košutiæ) 40th International Symposium Actual Tasks on Agricultural Engineering, 2012, Opatija, Croatia, pp. 161-169
- Ferziger, J. H., Periæ, M., Computational Methods for Fluid Dynamics, 3rd edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 2002
- ***, STAR-CCM+, User Guide, CD-Adapco, 2011
- Sevilgen, G., Kilic, M., Investigation of Transient Cooling of an Automobile Cabin with a Virtual Manikin Under Solar Radiation, Thermal Science, Vol. 17 (2013) 2, pp. 397-406