Computational fluid dynamics study of human-induced wake and particle dispersion in indoor environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yao Tao ◽  
Kiao Inthavong ◽  
Jiyuan Tu

The impact of human-induced wake flow and particle re-dispersion from floors in an indoor environment was investigated by performing computational fluid dynamics simulations with dynamic mesh of a moving manikin model in a confined room. The manikin motion was achieved by a dynamic layering mesh method to update new grids with each time step. Particle transport from the floors and its re-dispersion was tracked by a Lagrangian approach. A series of numerical simulations of three walking speeds were performed to compare the flow disturbance induced by the walking motion. The significant airflow patterns included: an upward-directed flow in front of the body combined with a high velocity downward-directed flow at the rear of the body; a stagnant region behind the gap between the legs and counter-rotating vortices in the wake region. The airflow momentum induced by the moving body disturbed PM2.5 particles that were initially at rest on the floor to lift and become re-suspended due to its interaction with the trailing wake. The residual flow disturbances after the manikin stopped moving continued to induce the particle to spread and deposit over time. The spatial and temporal characteristics of the particle dispersion and concentration showed that higher walking speed was conducive to reducing human's exposure to contaminants in breathing region.

Author(s):  
Soham Bakshi ◽  
Badih A. Jawad ◽  
Selin Arslan ◽  
Kingman Yee ◽  
Liping Liu

Today’s strict fuel economy requirement produces the need for the cars to have really optimized shapes among other characteristics as optimized cooling packages, reduced weight, to name a few. With the advances in automotive technology, tight global oil resources, lightweight automotive design process becomes a problem deserving important consideration. It is not however always clear how to modify the shape of the exterior of a car in order to minimize its aerodynamic resistance. Air motion is complex and operates differently at different weather conditions. This gap can be covered by the use of adjoint solvers which predict the sensibility of the aerodynamic forces to changes of the geometry. Alternatively, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers can be partnered with optimization software which guide model design changes and evaluate the corresponding results. Design changes can be executed by modifying a parameterized geometry or using mesh morphing techniques. With the advances in computational fluid dynamics, design optimization methods in the aerodynamic design are more important than ever. In the present paper, ANSYS Fluent will be used in conjunction with the optimization software ANSYS DesignXplorer to study ways of reducing drag and lift for a simplified car body. ANSYS simulation software allows one to predict, with confidence, the impact of fluid flows on the product throughout design and manufacturing as well as during end use. CFD is a complex technology involving strongly coupled non-linear partial differential equations which attempt to computationally simulate theoretical and experimental models in a discrete domain of complex geometric shape. A detailed assessment of errors and uncertainties has to concern itself with the three roots of CFD: theory, experiment, and computation. Further, the application of CFD is rapidly expanding with the growth in computational resources. The body in question in this study is the Ahmed body [1] which has been used numerous times for CFD code validation. This geometry represents a road legal car which is used to study the effect of different forces like, aerodynamic drag force, lift force, and some other major forces which affect a car’s motion significantly. Despite being a simple body, accurate prediction of its aerodynamic performance often requires very accurate and computationally expensive calculations. We would like to investigate if meaningful optimizations can be achieved by using reduced resources, by analyzing how air at different velocity affect the body and what changes might be necessary for a further optimized performance. The purpose here is not to predict the absolute values of drag for this body, but to demonstrate that optimization can be performed with limited resources relying on information about drag deltas rather than absolute values. Keeping limiting resources in mind, a grid independence study wasn’t done.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin D. Griffith ◽  
Timothy Crouch ◽  
Mark C. Thompson ◽  
David Burton ◽  
John Sheridan ◽  
...  

An experimental and numerical analysis of cycling aerodynamics is presented. The cyclist is modeled experimentally by a mannequin at static crank angle; numerically, the cyclist is modeled using a computer aided design (CAD) reproduction of the geometry. Wind tunnel observation of the flow reveals a large variation of drag force and associated downstream flow structure with crank angle; at a crank angle of 15 deg, where the two thighs of the rider are aligned, a minimum in drag is observed. At a crank angle of 75 deg, where one leg is at full extension and the other is raised close to the torso, a maximum in drag is observed. Simulation of the flow using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) reproduces the observed variation of drag with crank angle, but underpredicts the experimental drag measurements by approximately 15%, probably at least partially due to simplification of the geometry of the cyclist and bicycle. Inspection of the wake flow for the two sets of results reveals a good match in the downstream flow structure. Numerical simulation also reveals the transient nature of the entire flow field in greater detail. In particular, it shows how the flow separates from the body of the cyclist, which can be related to changes in the overall drag.


Author(s):  
Shamia Hoque ◽  
Firoza Omar

Cross-contamination between occupants in an indoor space may occur due to transfer of infectious aerosols. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides detailed insight into particle transport in indoor spaces. However, such simulations are site-specific. This study couples CFD with statistical moments and establishes a framework that transitions site-specific results to generating guidelines for designing “healthy” indoor spaces. Eighteen cases were simulated, and three parameters were assessed: inlet/outlet location, air changes per hour, and the presence/absence of desks. Aerosol release due to a simulated “sneeze” in a two-dimensional ventilated space was applied as a test case. Mean, standard deviation, and skewness of the velocity profiles and particle locations gave an overall picture of the spread and movement of the air flow in the domain. A parameter or configuration did not dominate the values, confirming the significance of considering the combined influence of multiple parameters for determining localized air-flow characteristics. Particle clustering occurred more when the inlet was positioned above the outlet. The particle dispersion pattern could be classified into two time zones: “near time”, <60 s, and “far time”, >120 s. Based on dosage, the 18 cases were classified into three groups ranging from worst case scenario to best case scenario.


Author(s):  
Praween Senanayake ◽  
Hana Salati ◽  
Eugene Wong ◽  
Kimberley Bradshaw ◽  
Yidan Shang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaz Dianat

The research paper investigates the impact of a window’s exterior air film on the assembly temperature. The exterior air film constitutes a vital portion of a window’s insulating values. The air film increases the temperature of the window exterior pane to a temperature above ambient temperature. The air film also rises the interior glass temperature and reduces the heat transfer from the interior surface. According to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the air film is removed in windy conditions, decreasing the window temperature on the outside as well as on the inside. The idea behind the project is to carry out an experimental procedure on three different windows to validate the CFD results, which indicates the effect of various wind speeds. Keyword: Exterior air film, computational fluid dynamics, window assembly, wind speed


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaz Dianat

The research paper investigates the impact of a window’s exterior air film on the assembly temperature. The exterior air film constitutes a vital portion of a window’s insulating values. The air film increases the temperature of the window exterior pane to a temperature above ambient temperature. The air film also rises the interior glass temperature and reduces the heat transfer from the interior surface. According to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the air film is removed in windy conditions, decreasing the window temperature on the outside as well as on the inside. The idea behind the project is to carry out an experimental procedure on three different windows to validate the CFD results, which indicates the effect of various wind speeds. Keyword: Exterior air film, computational fluid dynamics, window assembly, wind speed


Author(s):  
Qing Tang ◽  
Michael Bockelie

This paper presents a condensed phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based tool for modeling the processes of melting, flow and gasification of thermoplastic materials exposed to a high heat flux. Potential applications of the tool include investigating the behavior of polymer materials commonly used in personal computers and computer monitors if exposed to an intense heat flux, such as occurs during a fire. The finite-volume based model uses a three-dimensional body-fitted time dependent grid formulation to solve the unsteady Navier Stokes equations. A multi-grid method is used to accelerate convergence at each time step. Sub-models are included to describe the temperature dependent viscosity relationship and in-depth gasification and absorption of thermoplastic materials, free surface flows and surface tension. A series of test cases have been performed and the model results are compared to experimental data to investigate the impacts of different sub-models, boundary conditions, material properties and problem configurations on the accuracy, efficiency and applicability of the modeling tool.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 02003
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Sánchez-Barroso Moreno ◽  
Justo García Sanz-Calcedo ◽  
Alfonso C. Marcos Romero

It is necessary to characterise air-conditioning airflow in omanuscriprder to optimize hospital Indoor Environment Quality in high-performance operating theatres, and also reduce the risk of nosocomial infection due to pathogen contamination. The aim of this article is to study the prevalence of optimal healthy conditions from controlled air flow quality in hospital facilities, and to minimize energy consumption. To this purpose, the indoor air movement was modelled by Computational Fluid Dynamics technology. The optimal results showed that it is necessary to drive ultra-clean air ranging between 0.25 m/s and 0.40 m/s, values which are adequate to perform efficient sweeping and cleaning of the air near the patient, maintaining unidirectional air flow permanently as the air passes through the surgical field. These speeds must be taken into account as calculation parameters in new hospital facility projects, and as control parameters for the existing operating theatres.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Acuna ◽  
Alycia G. Berman ◽  
Frederick W. Damen ◽  
Brett A. Meyers ◽  
Amelia R. Adelsperger ◽  
...  

Recent applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applied to the cardiovascular system have demonstrated its power in investigating the impact of hemodynamics on disease initiation, progression, and treatment outcomes. Flow metrics such as pressure distributions, wall shear stresses (WSS), and blood velocity profiles can be quantified to provide insight into observed pathologies, assist with surgical planning, or even predict disease progression. While numerous studies have performed simulations on clinical human patient data, it often lacks prediagnosis information and can be subject to large intersubject variability, limiting the generalizability of findings. Thus, animal models are often used to identify and manipulate specific factors contributing to vascular disease because they provide a more controlled environment. In this review, we explore the use of CFD in animal models in recent studies to investigate the initiating mechanisms, progression, and intervention effects of various vascular diseases. The first section provides a brief overview of the CFD theory and tools that are commonly used to study blood flow. The following sections are separated by anatomical region, with the abdominal, thoracic, and cerebral areas specifically highlighted. We discuss the associated benefits and obstacles to performing CFD modeling in each location. Finally, we highlight animal CFD studies focusing on common surgical treatments, including arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) and pulmonary artery grafts. The studies included in this review demonstrate the value of combining CFD with animal imaging and should encourage further research to optimize and expand upon these techniques for the study of vascular disease.


Author(s):  
Peter Abdo ◽  
Rahil Taghipour ◽  
B. P. Huynh

Abstract Windcatcher has been used over centuries for providing natural ventilation using wind power, it is an effective passive method to provide healthy and comfortable indoor environment. The windcatcher’s function is based on the wind and on the stack effect resulting from temperature differences. Generally, it is difficult for wind to change its direction, and enter a room through usual openings, the windcatcher is designed to overcome such problems since they have vertical columns to help channel wind down to the inside of a building. The efficiency of a windcatcher is maximized by applying special forms of opening and exit. The openings depend on the windcatcher’s location and on its cross sectional area and shape such as square, rectangular, hexagonal or circular. In this study the effect of the inlet design is investigated to achieve better air flow and increase the efficiency of windcatchers. To achieve this, CFD (computational fluid dynamics) tool is used to simulate the air flow in a three dimensional room fitted with a windcatcher based on the different inlet designs. The divergent inlet has captured the highest air flow with a difference of approximately 3% compared to the uniform inlet and 5% difference compared to the bulging-convergent inlet.


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