Asymmetric radiant fields and human thermal comfort
type: CreativeWork
description: The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a first principles model for predicting human local thermal comfort responses to asymmetric radiation environments. The research deployed state-of-the-art computer simulation techniques to model in detail inhomogeneous short-wave and long-wave radiative heat exchanges of standing and sedentary humans. Detailed 3D human geometry models, simulation software incorporating advanced, voxelbased ray techniques and statistical regression analysis were used to accurately model human local geometry-related characteristics, i.e. projected area factors with respect to both direct and diffuse solar radiation, and view factors for individual parts of the human body. The local projected area factors with respect to direct short-wave radiation (fp,dir) were presented as functions of the solar azimuth angle (a) between 0 0< a < 3600 and the solar altitude (jJ) angles between -900 <fi<+90o. In case of diffuse solar radiation from the isotropic sky the local human projected area factors (fp,dij) were modelled as a function of the ground albedo (pg) ranging between 0< pg <1. The functions were validated against available experimental data and showed good general agreement with projected area factors measured for both the human body as a whole and for local quantities. The view factors of individual body parts were modelled as functions of local projected area factors. This technique makes it possible to predict view factors between individual body parts and surrounding surfaces for almost any arbitrary geometrical configurations. ?Validation showed good agreement with available experimental data for both standing and sedentary humans. The detailed projected area factors and view factors developed were used in conjunction with the IESD-Fiala multi-node model of human heat transfer and thermal comfort to predict thermal responses of subjects exposed to various asymmetric radiation conditions. The extended model showed good agreement with av…
abstract: The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a first principles model for predicting human local thermal comfort responses to asymmetric radiation environments. The research deployed state-of-the-art computer simulation techniques to model in detail inhomogeneous short-wave and long-wave radiative heat exchanges of standing and sedentary humans. Detailed 3D human geometry models, simulation software incorporating advanced, voxelbased ray techniques and statistical regression analysis were used to accurately model human local geometry-related characteristics, i.e. projected area factors with respect to both direct and diffuse solar radiation, and view factors for individual parts of the human body. The local projected area factors with respect to direct short-wave radiation (fp,dir) were presented as functions of the solar azimuth angle (a) between 0 0< a < 3600 and the solar altitude (jJ) angles between -900 <fi<+90o. In case of diffuse solar radiation from the isotropic sky the local human projected area factors (fp,dij) were modelled as a function of the ground albedo (pg) ranging between 0< pg <1. The functions were validated against available experimental data and showed good general agreement with projected area factors measured for both the human body as a whole and for local quantities. The view factors of individual body parts were modelled as functions of local projected area factors. This technique makes it possible to predict view factors between individual body parts and surrounding surfaces for almost any arbitrary geometrical configurations. ?Validation showed good agreement with available experimental data for both standing and sedentary humans. The detailed projected area factors and view factors developed were used in conjunction with the IESD-Fiala multi-node model of human heat transfer and thermal comfort to predict thermal responses of subjects exposed to various asymmetric radiation conditions. The extended model showed good agreement with av…
author: Kubaha, Kuskana
license: https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstreams/f4f2d335-17a6-475a-993d-30d2f6d0bdfa/download
date published: 2005
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:18:31Z
provider: De Montfort University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: De Montfort University