Solution characters of iterative coupling between energy simulation and CFD programs

Energy simulation (ES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provide important and complementary information for building energy and indoor environment designs. A coupled ES and CFD simulation can eliminate many assumptions employed in the separate ES and CFD computations and thus provide more accurate results. Through theoretical analysis and numerical experiment, this study verified that the solution of a coupled ES and CFD simulation does exist and is unique. The investigation also concluded that a converged and stable simulation can be achieved with three different data coupling methods. The study has further developed an improved iteration and control algorithm for the coupled simulation. Keyword: Coupling; Energy simulation; CFD Nomenclature A area of surface (m) A coefficient matrix B coefficient matrix C contaminant concentration (mg/kg or ppm) Cp air specific heat (J/kgK) f math function g math function h heat transfer coefficient (W/mK) IterCFD CFD iteration number K conductivity of wall (W/mK) L thickness of wall (m) N number of enclosure surfaces q heat flux (W/m) Q total heat flux (W) Q interior surface heat convection tensor R residual S source term t time (s) T air temperature, surface temperature (K) ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 1-765496-7562, FAX: 1-765494-0539 E-mail address: [email protected] (Q. Chen). Zhai, Z. and Chen, Q. 2003. “Solution characters of iterative coupling between energy simulation and CFD programs,” Energy and Buildings, 35(5), 493-505.