3D Numerical Simulation of Laminar Flow and Conjugate Heat Transfer through Fabric

Abstract

The air flow and conjugate heat transfer through the fabric was investigated numerically. The objective of this paper is to study the thermal insulation of fabrics under heat convection or the heat loss of human body under different conditions (fabric structure and contact conditions between the human skin and the fabric). The numerical simulations were performed in laminar flow regime at constant skin temperature (310 K) and constant air flow temperature (273 K) at a speed of 5 m/s. Some important parameters such as heat flux through the fabrics, heat transfer coefficient, and Nusselt number were evaluated. The results showed that the heat loss from human body (the heat transfer coefficient) was smallest or the thermal insulation of fabric was highest when the fabric had no pores and no contact with the human skin, the heat loss from human body (the heat transfer coefficient) was highest when the fabric had pores and the air flow penetrated through the fabric.

Keywords

• numerical simulation
• fluid flow
• heat transfer
• heat convection
• heat transfer coefficient