Calculation of Heat Flux Through a Wall Containing a Cavity: Comparison of Several Models

摘要

This paper describes the calculation of the heat transfer through the standard stud wall structure of a residential building. The wall cavity contains no insulation. Results from five test cases are presented. The first four represent progressively more complicated approximations to the heat transfer through and within a hollow wall structure. The fifth adds the model components necessary to severely inhibit the radiative energy transport across the empty cavity. Flow within the wall cavity is calculated from the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy conservation equation for an ideal gas using an improvement to the Implicit-Compressible Eulerian (ICE) algorithm of Harlow and Amsden. An algorithm is described to efficiently couple the fluid flow calculations to the radiation-conduction model for the solid portions of the system. Results indicate that conduction through still plates contributes less than 2% of the total heat transferred through a composite wall. All of the other elements (conduction through wall board, sheathing, and siding; convection from siding and wallboard to ambients; and radiation across the wall cavity) are required to accurately predict the heat transfer through a wall. Addition of a foil liner on one inner surface of the wall cavity reduces the total heat transferred by almost 50%. (ERA citation 11:032068)