Ventilation of Wind-Permeable Clothed Cylinder Subject to Periodic Swinging Motion: Modeling and Experimentation

Abstract

Abstract A theoretical and experimental study has been performed to determine the ventilation induced by swinging motion and external wind for a fabric-covered cylinder of finite length representing a limb. The estimated ventilation rates are important in determining local thermal comfort. A model is developed to estimate the external pressure distribution resulting from the relative wind around the swinging clothed cylinder. A mass balance equation of the microclimate air layer is reduced to a pressure equation assuming laminar flow in axial and angular directions and that the air layer is lumped in the radial direction. The ventilation model predicts the total renewal rate during the swinging cycle. A good agreement was found between the predicted ventilation rates at swinging frequencies between 40rpm and 60rpm and measured values from experiments conducted in a controlled environmental chamber (air velocity is less than 0.05m∕s) and in a low speed wind tunnel (for air speed between 2m∕s and 6m∕s) using the tracer gas method to measure the total ventilation rate induced by the swinging motion of a cylinder covered with a cotton fabric for both closed and open aperture cases. A parametric study using the current model is performed on a cotton fabric to study the effect of wind on ventilation rates for a nonmoving clothed limb at wind speeds ranging from 0.5m∕sto8m∕s, the effect of a swinging limb in stagnant air at frequencies up to 80rpm, and the combined effect of wind and swinging motion on the ventilation rate. For a nonmoving limb, ventilation rate increases with external wind. In the absence of wind, the ventilation rate increases with increased swinging frequency.