Abstract
Indoor environment design and air management in buildings requires fast simulation of air distribution. A fast fluid dynamics (FFD) model seems very promising. This work was to develop the FFD by improving its speed and accuracy. Enhancement of computing speed can be realized by modifying the time-splitting method. Improvements in accuracy were achieved by replacing the finite-difference scheme by the finite-volume method and by proposing a correction function for mass conservation. Using the new FFD model for several indoor air flows, the results show significant reduction in computing time and great improvements on accuracy.
This study was funded by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine through the National Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Research in the Intermodal Transport Environment under Cooperative Agreement 07-CRITE-PU. Although the FAA sponsored this project, it neither endorses nor rejects the findings of this research. The presentation of this information is in the interest of invoking technical community comment on the results and conclusions of the research.