ComfSim - Interactive indoor thermal comfort simulation on high performance computers

The paper outlines the current state of the development of a,computational steering' environment for interactive indoor thermal comfort simulation and assessment The system consists of a parallel CFD kernel, a fast 3D mesh generator and an integrated virtual reality-based visualization component The numerical method is based on a hybrid thermal lattice Boltzmann method with extensions for simulations of turbulent convective flows. Utilizing high-performance supercomputing facilities allows for modifying both the geometric model and the boundary conditions during runtime with immediate visualization of changes in the results. We currently enhance our model by a radiation model with fast visibility check and integrate a local thermal comfort model developed in cooperation with our partners. The application is demonstrated by turbulent convection in a train's passenger carriage.