Integrated thermal comfort analysis using a parametric manikin model for interactive real-time simulation

Abstract

Following the work of Fiala we developed and tested a parametric multi-segment manikin model as the interface between Fiala's human thermoregulation model and other computational codes for studying transient and local effects of thermal sensation and comfort perception. The model allows for motion control by transforming body parts according to an armature model which relates topological dependencies. The position of joints and decomposition into segments is chosen in terms of the settings of Fiala's model. Several faceted geometric models are available such as the NASA MSIS Standard or predefined NASTRAN geometries. The developed thermoregulation interface provides means to computational steering, i.e. to interact with an ongoing simulation. The boundary conditions, the type of clothing, or the activity level can be modified online, results are updated on a real time scale during the simulation. The visualization on the artificial skin of the manikin includes the surface/skin temperatures and the local thermal sensation votes (LTSV); likewise the predicted mean vote (PMV) and the dynamic thermal sensation (DTS) are output. The LTSV data are based on experimental data which were obtained in a test chamber involving 24 test subjects for three levels of clothing insulation and a light level of activity

Engineering-Based Thermal CFD Simulations on Massive Parallel Systems

“…Further possible assessments regarding indoor thermal comfort can be made by evaluating the local mean votes (LMV), as described by van Treeck et al [47]. The LMVs can be generated for different body sectors of different students at different locations in the classroom.…”

Models and Indicators to Assess Thermal Sensation Under Steady-State and Transient Conditions

“…Standard human manikins are used in [148], where a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code is coupled with the Fanger model to compute the impact of the human body on the environment, and in [149] to integrate the Fiala model with a realistic 3D figure. Van Treeck et al [150,151] couple the model [146] with CFD to simulate the environmental impact on the human body. Fiala et al [94] present the algorithms and methods of the multi-node dynamic Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI)-Fiala model of human thermal physiology.…”

High Performance Computing in Science and Engineering, Garching/Munich 2009

“…In the broader context of the underlying research project COMFSIM [15] three modules were defined. In a first study, a virtual climate chamber [14] was designed, which makes use of a human thermoregulation model according to Fiala [5]. Occupants can be situated in a rectangular enclosure with well-defined boundary conditions, such as room and surface temperatures, relative humidity, air velocity and metabolic rate.…”

“…Using these resulting surface temperatures, a local comfort vote can be calculated using a 7 point ASHRAE scale [1], for example, indicating the comfort state of the manikin. The developed local assessment method of our postprocessing tool has already been published by the authors in [14]. Coupling CFD with the numerical manikin offers the possibility to predict the indoor thermal comfort situation in detail, such as assessing the draught risk, asymmetric radiation, etc.…”