Enhancement of aircraft cabin comfort studies by coupling of models for human thermoregulation, internal radiation, and turbulent flows

Abstract

Scientific enhancement of the analysis of thermal comfort aspects in aircraft cabins is the subject of the current investigation. For this purpose, three important processes are identified that play a significant role in thermal comfort, viz. the human response to its thermal environment which is also known as thermoregulation, the actual movement of air and heat inside aircraft cabins due to natural and forced convection, and heat transfer due to radiation. Three existing models have been adopted to describe these phenomena. In the current investigation, the behaviour of these three models is investigated in terms of modelling aspects and computational efficiency. Furthermore, a robust coupling of the models in a single simulation environment is described. Simulation results are shown for academic and real-life applications. It is concluded that a useful simulation environment has been obtained for studying aspects of the individual seat climate. Also, open issues in physical and computational aspects of the models are identified which can be addressed in future studies.