Investigation on Numerical Simulation of Radiation Heating Thermal Environment in Car Cabin

Abstract

Based on the automobile energy saving and requirements for thermal comfort of heating environment in a car, a capillary radiation heating system for automobile is presented, and the 3D flow field and temperature field of air in the passenger compartment are simulated by using SC/Tetra software. To consider the effect of human thermoregulation, human thermal regulatory model is incorporated with numerical simulation. The thermal comfort of passenger compartment is evaluated by PMV-PPD comfort index basing on the simulation results. It concludes that the distributions of flow field and temperature field of radiation heating environment are relatively homogeneous. Human thermoregulation has a big influence on the temperature distribution in the near region around the human body. Analyzing the PMV values of body surfaces, it concludes that the radiation penal surface temperature should be set to 30°C under the most comfortable environment for human. The research results provide basis for the using of radiation heating technology in a car.