CFD modeling of basic convection cases in enclosed environments: Needs of CFD beginners to acquire skills and confidence on CFD modeling

Abstract

Prediction of airflow pattern and velocities, temperature, moisture and pollutants concentration is required to design healthy and comfortable indoor environments. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is the most advanced technique to model and predict the airflow in enclosed environments. However, the main errors in CFD models and their results are linked to the human factor. Beginners on CFD modeling do not account with skills, experience and engineering judgment to generate robust and reliable CFD models. This process is not intuitive and new CFD users need guidance. This paper aims to provide more complete information on CFD modeling of basic natural, forced and mixed convection cases that would allow CFD beginners to acquire skills and confidence. CFD modeling includes mesh generation, setting convergence criteria and under-relaxation factors, and evaluating different turbulence models for each convection case. Results show that users´ expertise is needed in each step of CFD modeling, even for these basic convection cases.