Fundamental Heat Transfer Research with Building Energy Applications

计算机模拟已成为节能建筑设计的基本工具。它被广泛用于计算热负荷、调整供暖和制冷设备的尺寸以及评估关键设计选项的能源影响。然而，最近的几项研究表明，室内建筑表面对流换热的处理是这些模拟中的一个关键的“薄弱环节”。 本研究的目的是对建筑能耗模拟中具有重要意义的构型进行对流换热的基础研究。这些研究将调查与加热和冷却模式相关的基本流体力学和热传递现象，重点是建筑物周边区域的热交换。还建议发展激光干涉测量的新技术，以促进非定常和湍流的研究。激光光学测量和流动可视化将用于改进和验证使用计算流体力学进行的建模。 长期目标是加强我们对建筑物中遇到的高度复杂流动的基本物理的理解。这些知识将被应用于提高热传递预测的准确性和建筑能耗分析的可靠性。预测建筑物热性能的能力的提高将导致更舒适和节能的设计。化石燃料消耗量的降低将减少空气污染，并有助于实现加拿大减少温室气体排放的国家目标。 拟议的研究将作为一个综合计划进行，涉及最先进的实验方法和计算流体动力学建模之间的平衡。这项研究将为博士、硕士和本科生提供广泛的培训经验，并将在传热学领域取得根本性进展。

Computer simulation has become a fundamental tool for the design of energy efficient buildings. It is widely used to calculate thermal loads, to size heating and cooling equipment and to evaluate the energy impact of key design options. However, several recent studies have shown that the treatment of convective heat transfer at indoor building surfaces is a critical "weak link" in these simulations. The goal of this research is to conduct fundamental studies of convective heat transfer for configurations of importance for building energy simulation. These studies will investigate the underlying fluid mechanics and heat transfer phenomena associated with both heating and cooling modes, with a focus on heat exchange in the perimeter zones of buildings. It is also proposed to develop new measurement techniques in laser interferometry to facilitate the study of unsteady and turbulent flows. Laser-optical measurements and flow visualization will be used to refine and validate modeling performed using computational fluid dynamics. The long term objective is to enhance our understanding of the underlying physics of the highly complex flows that are encountered in buildings. This knowledge will be applied to improve the accuracy of heat transfer predictions and the reliability of building energy analysis. Improvements in the capability to predict the thermal performance of buildings will lead to more comfortable and energy efficient designs. Lower fossil fuel consumption will abate air pollution and contribute to Canada's national objectives for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The proposed research will be undertaken as an integrated program involving a balance between state-of-the-art experimental methods and computational fluid dynamics modeling. This research will provide extensive training experiences for Doctoral, Master's and Undergraduate students, and will lead to fundamental advances in the field of heat transfer.