Browsing by Author "Fazio, P."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Evaluation of radiance's genBSDF capability to assess solar bidirectional properties of complex fenestration systems
    (2015) Molina, G.; Bustamante Gómez, Waldo; Rao, J.; Fazio, P.; Vera Araya, Sergio Eduardo; CEDEUS (Chile)
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Interzonal air and moisture transport through large horizontal openings in a full-scale two-story test-hut: Part 1-Experimental study
    (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2010) Vera, S.; Fazio, P.; Rao, J.
    Moisture transport by convection through large horizontal openings in dwellings, such as staircases, could have significant impact on the level, variation and distribution of humidity in each zone of dwellings. Yet, most studies and simulation tools of heat, air and moisture transport in buildings do not consider nor properly model this phenomenon: the lack of experimental data is one of the main causes. The aim of this experimental investigation was to study the air and moisture transport through a horizontal opening in a full-scale two-story test-hut. This study extended the cases with buoyancy-driven flows that have been studied by a handful of existing investigations, to the cases of combined buoyancy airflows and mechanical ventilation and cases with warmer upper room than the lower rooms. The main investigated parameters were different ventilation strategies, ventilation rates, and temperature differences between the lower and upper rooms. In total, 20 cases were tested. Measurements of temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were carried out within both rooms and across the horizontal opening. The air and moisture exchange through the horizontal openings are investigated based on two quantities representing the phenomenon: (i) steady-state difference between the average humidity ratios of the two rooms at the end of the moisture generation period, and (ii) mass airflow rates through the opening. The results show that interzonal air and moisture exchanges through the horizontal openings are strongly linked to the temperature difference between the two rooms, and the mechanical ventilation significantly restricts the interzonal airflows in comparison with cases without mechanical ventilation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Interzonal air and moisture transport through large horizontal openings in a full-scale two-story test-hut: Part 2-CFD study
    (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2010) Vera, S.; Fazio, P.; Rao, J.
    The aim of this paper is to study the air and moisture transport through a large horizontal opening in a full-scale two-story test-hut with mixed ventilation by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. CFD allows extending the experimental study presented in the companion paper [1] and overcoming some limitations of experimental data. More than 80 cases were simulated for conditions similar to those tested experimentally and for additional ventilation rates and temperature difference between the two rooms. CFD simulations were performed in Airpak and the indoor zero-equation turbulence model was used. The CFD model was extensively validated with the distributions of air speed, temperature and humidity ratio measured across the two rooms, as well as with the measured interzonal mass airflows through the horizontal opening. CFD simulation results show that temperature difference between the two rooms and ventilation rate strongly influence the interzonal mass airflows through the opening when the upper room is colder than the lower room, while warm convective air currents from the baseboard heater and from the moisture source placed in the lower room cause upward mass airflows when the upper room is warmer than the lower room. Finally, empirical relationships between the upward mass airflow and the temperature difference between the two rooms are developed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Mixed convective heat transfer through a horizontal opening in a full-scale, two-story test-hut
    (2014) Vera Araya, Sergio Eduardo; Rao, J.; Fazio, P.; Campo, A.; CEDEUS (Chile)