Study of thermal phenomena in the cabin of a passenger vehicle using finite element analysis: human comfort and system performance

Abstract

A numerical simulation is performed to evaluate the thermal comfort of passengers and the performance of a defroster. In this study, a grid system based on a real vehicle and a finite element human model are used with an appropriate time step. The turbulent nature of the flow is modelled using a standard k–ε model according to the logarithmic law of the wall. The complex flow characteristics inside the passenger compartment are shown with simultaneous velocity and temperature fields in several sections of the flow domain. Through a predicted mean vote analysis, the thermal comfort of the passengers is discussed, in particular with respect to the measured location of the seat and the measured position of the passenger. An additional study is conducted on the defrost mode with respect to the defrosting performance which is closely related to passenger safety. The velocity profile at the defrost nozzle is interpolated to the inlet boundary surface node through a defrost duct simulation. The monitored points on the ice boundary indicate the melting time, the phase-change duration, the change in the enthalpy and other useful information.