Paper Conference

Proceedings of eSim 2016: 9th Conference of IBPSA-Canada

Back

---

Validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of airflow infiltration through building entrance doors

Sherif Goubran, Dahai Qi, Wael F. Saleh, Liangzhu Wang, Radu Zmeureanu

Abstract: Air infiltration through building entrance doors has been the focus of many studies due to the significant effect infiltrated air has on the buildings’ energy performance. Air infiltration models were developed for the double swing single and vestibule doors based on previous studies. It was concluded that vestibules doors are effective in reducing air infiltration. Currently vestibules are required as an energy saving measure for most commercial buildings. Our recent studies were focused on investigating the effectiveness of different entrance doors in reducing air infiltration in buildings. This paper presents the results from a preliminary effort in our recent studies: the experimental validation of the numerical modeling of air infiltration through single doors (double swing) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A reduced scale experimental chamber was built and the experimental setup was modeled in CFD. The volumetric airflow rates to the chamber were controlled and the resulting pressure differences across the door were measured and compared to the CFD results as well as existing sources in the literature. The experimental, numerical and theoratical results were found to be close and the modeling methods were validated.
Pages: 762 - 769
Paper:
esim2016_35-105