Various air distribution modes on commercial airplanes—Part 2: Computational fluid dynamics modeling and validation

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Various air distribution modes on commercial airplanes—Part 2: Computational fluid dynamics modeling and validation

Zhang, Tengfei- / Li, Penghui / Zhao, Yue / Wang, Shugang

Both experimental test and numerical modeling can be used to investigate air distribution on commercial airplanes. Numerical modeling by computational fluid dynamics has gained popularity; however, current computational fluid dynamics modeling efforts are concentrated primarily on the mixing-air distribution mode. To fully evaluate computational fluid dynamics modeling for different air distribution modes, the flow, heat transfer, and pollutant species transport in a twin-aisle aircraft cabin mockup is modeled. Three air distribution modes, namely the mixing, under-aisle displacement, and personal air distribution modes, are studied. The steady renormalization group k-ϵ model together with the standard wall function has been employed for turbulence modeling and the near-wall treatment. The experimental data in terms of the velocity field, temperature, and CO₂ concentration profiles are applied to validate the numerical models. This study finds that the renormalization group k-ϵ model is able to solve major air distribution parameters in reasonable agreement with the measured values. When carrying out the steady computational modeling by resolving the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations, it should be noted that the models may underestimate the turbulent mixing effect.