MEASURING MEAN AND INSTANTANEOUS VENTILATION RATES IN SINGLEVENTILATION SCENARIO OF A CUBIC BUILDING USING STEREOSCOPIC PIV

Abstract

Indoor ventilation significantly influences human health and comfort. Although there are experimental studies on wind-induced natural ventilations, these experiments were unable to determine the genuine ventilation rate based on the velocity component normal to the opening. In this study, stereoscopic particle image velocimetry experiments were conducted for the lateral single-sided ventilation condition of an isolated cubic building to determine three velocity components within the openings. The mean and turbulent flow patterns within the opening and those at the half building height were analyzed. At the opening, the stronger turbulence can be observed for the inlet flow, while it is weaker for the outlet flow. After the flow goes into the building, the velocity fluctuations are significantly damped. Accordingly, the mean and instantaneous ventilation rates were experimentally determined to quantify the contribution of the turbulent fluctuating ventilation flow. This study is an informative supplement for understanding the ventilation mechanism and effective database for numerical validation.