Experimental study of moist air flow in the gap between the aircraft's fuselage and its cabin wall

Abstract

We carried out an experimental study on the moisture transfer and the heat transport in warm and humid air flows between the cabin lining and the fuselage skin. The measurements were performed in a rectangular gap channel, representing the space between fuselage and cabin wall. Long-term measurements were performed for three configurations: without insulation, with fibreglass blanket and with melamine resin foam blanket. To simulate realistic flight conditions in a laboratory setup, we applied a concept of scaling. This concept is intended to guarantee similitude between the real flight conditions and the laboratory experiment. The results reveal that without insulation, the moisture transfer rate is much higher compared to the configurations with insulation blankets. With insulation most of the water evaporates during ground conditions and just a small amount is entrapped in the insulation. Without insulation just a small part of the frozen water evaporates on the ground. When comparing the two insulation blankets, it is found that they both have a similar heat transmittance coefficient. However, the condensation rate of the water and the resulting accumulation of water are significant, higher for the fibreglass blanket.