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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Investigating Self-Cooling Effects Of Ventilated Attics Under Different Roof And Ambient Temperatures In Summer, Zhigang Shen, Shimin Wang Sep 2012

Investigating Self-Cooling Effects Of Ventilated Attics Under Different Roof And Ambient Temperatures In Summer, Zhigang Shen, Shimin Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

An unsteady computational fluid dynamics model is employed to simulate summer-time buoyancy-driven turbulent ventilation in gable-roof attics of residential buildings. The energy performance of vented attics is assessed by comparing their performance to sealed attics with the same geometry and insulation configurations. The simulated boundary conditions of the roof-top temperature ranging between 295.15 K and 345.15 K, coupled with an ambient temperature ranging between 295.15 K and 315.15 K, resemble the summer attic conditions with effects of solar irradiance on the roofs. Simulation results indicate that both the vented and sealed attics are dominated by thermal stratification. The cooling load …


Numerical Simulation Of Buoyancy-Driven Turbulent Ventilation In Attic Space Under Winter Conditions, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen, Linxia Gu Jan 2012

Numerical Simulation Of Buoyancy-Driven Turbulent Ventilation In Attic Space Under Winter Conditions, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Attic design and construction have significant impacts on residential buildings’ energy performance. In order to understand how passive ventilation rates affect ridge-vent attic’s performance, a two-dimensional steady-state finite volume model is employed to simulate the buoyancy-driven turbulent ventilation and heat transfer in a triangular attic space of a gable-roof residential building under winter conditions. The modeled attic has a pitch of 5/12 and a passive ventilation system, consisting of continuous ridge and soffit vents. The v2f model is used to analyze the turbulent air flow and natural convection heat transfer inside the attic. The effects of ambient air temperature, vent …


Effects Of Roof Pitch On Air Flow And Heating Load Of Sealed And Vented Attics For Gable-Roof Residential Buildings, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen Jan 2012

Effects Of Roof Pitch On Air Flow And Heating Load Of Sealed And Vented Attics For Gable-Roof Residential Buildings, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Pitch value is an important consideration in residential gable roof design and construction. However, how roof pitch, coupled with air flows in attic space, affects the energy performance of building attics has been barely investigated. In this paper, a 2D unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is employed to investigate the effects of roof pitch on air flow and heating load of both sealed and vented attics for gable-roof residential buildings. The simulation results show that air flow in the sealed attics is steady and asymmetric, while that in the vented attics is a combination of an essentially symmetric base …


Impacts Of Ventilation Ratio And Vent Balance On Cooling Load And Air Flow Of Naturally Ventilated Attics, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen Jan 2012

Impacts Of Ventilation Ratio And Vent Balance On Cooling Load And Air Flow Of Naturally Ventilated Attics, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The impacts of ventilation ratio and vent balance on cooling load and air flow of naturally ventilated attics are studied in this paper using an unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. Buoyancy-driven turbulent ventilations in attics of gable-roof residential buildings are simulated for typical summer conditions. Ventilation ratios from 1/400 to 1/25 combined with both balanced and unbalanced vent configurations are investigated. The modeling results show that the air flows in the attics are steady and exhibit a general streamline pattern that is qualitatively insensitive to the variations in ventilation ratio and vent configuration. The predicted temperature fields are characterized …


The Impact Of Roof Pitch And Ceiling Insulation On Cooling Load Of Naturally-Ventilated Attics, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen, Linxia Gu Jan 2012

The Impact Of Roof Pitch And Ceiling Insulation On Cooling Load Of Naturally-Ventilated Attics, Shimin Wang, Zhigang Shen, Linxia Gu

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

A 2D unsteady computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is employed to simulate buoyancy-driven turbulent ventilation in attics with different pitch values and ceiling insulation levels under summer conditions. The impacts of roof pitch and ceiling insulation on the cooling load of gable-roof residential buildings are investigated based on the simulation of turbulent air flow and natural convection heat transfer in attic spaces with roof pitches from 3/12 to 18/12 combined with ceiling insulation levels from R-1.2 to R-40. The modeling results show that the air flows in the attics are steady and exhibit a general streamline pattern that is qualitatively …


Application Of The Modified Log-Wake Law In Open-Channels, Junke Guo, Pierre Y. Julien Sep 2008

Application Of The Modified Log-Wake Law In Open-Channels, Junke Guo, Pierre Y. Julien

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The modified log-wake law, which was developed for turbulent boundary layers and pipe flows, is extended to turbulent flows in open-channels. Turbulent velocity profiles in open-channels can be approximated with three components: (1) the law of the wall that results from the constant bed shear stress; (2) the law of the wake that reflects the effects of gravity, secondary currents and bed roughness; and (3) the cubic correction near the maximum velocity. A procedure to determine the four model parameters from velocity measurements while keeping κ = 0.41 is presented. The modified log-wake law compares very well with experimental data …


Self-Similarity Of Mean Flow In Pipe Turbulence, Junke Guo Jun 2006

Self-Similarity Of Mean Flow In Pipe Turbulence, Junke Guo

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Based on our previous modified log-wake law in turbulent pipe ‡flows, we invent two compound similarity numbers (Y;U), where Y is a combination of the inner variable y+ and outer variable , and U is the pure exect of the wall. The two similarity numbers can well collapse mean velocity profile data with different moderate and large Reynolds numbers into a single universal profile. We then propose an arctangent law for the buffer layer and a general log law for the outer region in terms of (Y;U). From Milikan’s maximum velocity law and the Princeton superpipe data, we derive the …


Modified Log–Wake Law For Zero-Pressure-Gradient Turbulent Boundary Layers, Junke Guo, Pierre Y. Julien, Meroney N. Meroney Sep 2005

Modified Log–Wake Law For Zero-Pressure-Gradient Turbulent Boundary Layers, Junke Guo, Pierre Y. Julien, Meroney N. Meroney

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper shows that the turbulent velocity profile for zero-pressure-gradient boundary layers is affected by the wall shear stress and convective inertia. The effect of the wall shear stress is dominant in the so-called overlap region and can be described by a logarithmic law in which the von Karman constant is about 0.4 while the additive constant depends on a Reynolds number. The effect of the convective inertia can be described by the Coles wake law with a constant wake strength about 0.76.A cubic correction term is introduced to satisfy the zero velocity gradient requirement at the boundary layer edge. …


Complete Maps Of The Aspect Sensitivity Of Vhf Atmospheric Radar Echoes, R. M. Worthington, R. D. Palmer, S. Fukao Jan 1999

Complete Maps Of The Aspect Sensitivity Of Vhf Atmospheric Radar Echoes, R. M. Worthington, R. D. Palmer, S. Fukao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Using the MU radar at Shigaraki, Japan (34.85°N, 136.10°E), we measure the power distribution pattern of VHF radar echoes from the mid-troposphere. The large number of radar beam-pointing directions (320) allows the mapping of echo power from 0° to 40° from zenith, and also the dependence on azimuth, which has not been achieved before at VHF wavelengths. The results show how vertical shear of the horizontal wind is associated with a definite skewing of the VHF echo power distribution, for beam angles as far as 30° or more from zenith, so that aspect sensitivity cannot be assumed negligible at any …