Experimental and numerical simulations of idealized aircraft cabin flows

Two different generic cabin configurations, deduced from the passenger cabin and the sleeping bunk of a modern mega liner, have been investigated numerically by means of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) computations and experimentally by particle image velocimetry (PIV) as well as thermography. In order to study the flow of fresh air in the vicinity of the luggage compartment, a cabin mock-up which represents the region above the passengers to the luggage compartment has been built. Additionally, a single person sleeping bunk of the crew rest compartments was considered. Comparisons between computations and measurements show a good agreement. They further indicate that higher order low Reynolds number turbulence models are suited best to predict the complex 3D-cabin airflow with separation. (c) 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.