Numerical Simulation of Thermal Comfort in Aircraft Cabins

Abstract

In this paper the results of numerical study of the air flow and the thermal comfort in aircraft cabin which includes thermal radiation effects are presented. The computations have been performed by coupling flow simulations with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code OpenFOAM with finite-element simualtions of the heat transport within the passengers using the code THESEUS-FE. With the latter the bodies of passengers are modelled based on various layers with different heat transport characteristics to account for effects like blood flow, skin, clothing as well as activity levels and ambient humidity. Result of computations of the flow, thermal radiation and passenger comfort in the cabin of the Airbus A320 and Do728 are presented and discussed.