During their daily lives, human beings constantly interact with their immediate environment. The environment affects human well-being, comfort, and performance. In turn, humans cause changes in temperature, air movement, relative humidity, odour and C02 concentration within the surrounding air.Naturally ventilated (NV) buildings are an energy efficient alternative to mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning. However, the energy consumption and the effectiveness of a natural ventilation system depends on occupant behaviour. On the other hand, occupant comfort in NV buildings can be compromised because the indoor environment is strongly linked with the outdoor weather conditions and vary throughout the space due to draughts, solar gains and warm air stratification.The aim of the project is to develop a validated simulation tool capable of predicting the human-environment interactions in NV buildings and so to predict the impact of building designs on occupants and vice versa. The research will combine a detailed computer model for predicting airflow and temperature patterns in buildings (computational fluid dynamics or CFD) with a detailed mathematical model of human physiology and thermal comfort. The heat and moisture exchange processes within the buoyant plume that surrounds the human body and the micro-climatic conditions within this plume will be modelled in detail. It is hoped that the work will establish important new knowledge which is essential for a better understanding of the impact of human beings on the design and the performance of NV buildings. The research will bring the human occupancy factor further into the core activities of the design process of buildings.The research will extend the prediction capability of CFD and reveal the complex human-environment interactions and phenomena affecting occupant comfort not only in NV buildings, but also in other areas of human activity and endeavour such as health (e.g. the transfer of infection agents, and indoor air quality), safety (e.g. firefighting), and in the design of cars, trains and aircraft.

During their daily lives, human beings constantly interact with their immediate environment. The environment affects human well-being, comfort, and performance. In turn, humans cause changes in temperature, air movement, relative humidity, odour and C02 concentration within the surrounding air.Naturally ventilated (NV) buildings are an energy efficient alternative to mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning. However, the energy consumption and the effectiveness of a natural ventilation system depends on occupant behaviour. On the other hand, occupant comfort in NV buildings can be compromised because the indoor environment is strongly linked with the outdoor weather conditions and vary throughout the space due to draughts, solar gains and warm air stratification.The aim of the project is to develop a validated simulation tool capable of predicting the human-environment interactions in NV buildings and so to predict the impact of building designs on occupants and vice versa. The research will combine a detailed computer model for predicting airflow and temperature patterns in buildings (computational fluid dynamics or CFD) with a detailed mathematical model of human physiology and thermal comfort. The heat and moisture exchange processes within the buoyant plume that surrounds the human body and the micro-climatic conditions within this plume will be modelled in detail. It is hoped that the work will establish important new knowledge which is essential for a better understanding of the impact of human beings on the design and the performance of NV buildings. The research will bring the human occupancy factor further into the core activities of the design process of buildings.The research will extend the prediction capability of CFD and reveal the complex human-environment interactions and phenomena affecting occupant comfort not only in NV buildings, but also in other areas of human activity and endeavour such as health (e.g. the transfer of infection agents, and indoor air quality), safety (e.g. firefighting), and in the design of cars, trains and aircraft.

A major design consideration for offshore wave energy devices is survivability under extreme wave loading. The aim of this project is to predict loading and response of two floating wave energy devices in extreme waves using CFD (computational fluid dynamics), in which fluid viscosity, wave breaking and the full non-linearity of Navier-Stokes and continuity equations are included. Two classes of device will be considered: Pelamis (of Ocean Power Delivery Ltd.), the prototype having already successfully generated electricity into the grid, and a floating buoy device responding in heave, known as the Manchester Bobber (Manchester University), which is being tested at 1/10th scale. Both classes of device are thought to be competitive with other renewable energy sources, being economically roughly equivalent to onshore wind energy. The CFD simulations will be undertaken in three ways: by commercial codes, CFX and COMET (STAR-CD); by recent advanced surface-capturing codes; and by the novel SPH (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) method. In order to address the uncertainties in the CFD approaches, such as the accuracy of prediction and the magnitude of computer resources required, a staged hierarchical approach of increasing computer demand will be taken in: mathematical formulation (from an inviscid single fluid to a two-fluid viscous/turbulence approach); wave description (from regular periodic to focussed wave groups including NewWave); and complexity of structure (from a fixed horizontal cylinder parallel to wave crests to the six degrees of freedom of Pelamis). At each stage, numerical results will be compared with experimental data. The significance of the inviscid v. viscous formulations, wave nonlinearity, non-breaking v. breaking conditions, and the dynamic response of the body will thus be assessed for extreme conditions. Designs for survivability should thus be better evaluated. The resulting CFD methodology will also benefit analysis of extreme wave interaction with ships, other marine vehicles and structures in general. For example interaction with freak waves and the 'green' water problem have yet to be resolved.

A major design consideration for offshore wave energy devices is survivability under extreme wave loading. The aim of this project is to predict loading and response of two floating wave energy devices in extreme waves using CFD (computational fluid dynamics), in which fluid viscosity, wave breaking and the full non-linearity of Navier-Stokes and continuity equations are included. Two classes of device will be considered: Pelamis (of Ocean Power Delivery Ltd.), the prototype having already successfully generated electricity into the grid, and a floating buoy device responding in heave, known as the Manchester Bobber (Manchester University), which is being tested at 1/10th scale. Both classes of device are thought to be competitive with other renewable energy sources, being economically roughly equivalent to onshore wind energy. The CFD simulations will be undertaken in three ways: by commercial codes, CFX and COMET (STAR-CD); by recent advanced surface-capturing codes; and by the novel SPH (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) method. In order to address the uncertainties in the CFD approaches, such as the accuracy of prediction and the magnitude of computer resources required, a staged hierarchical approach of increasing computer demand will be taken in: mathematical formulation (from an inviscid single fluid to a two-fluid viscous/turbulence approach); wave description (from regular periodic to focussed wave groups including NewWave); and complexity of structure (from a fixed horizontal cylinder parallel to wave crests to the six degrees of freedom of Pelamis). At each stage, numerical results will be compared with experimental data. The significance of the inviscid v. viscous formulations, wave nonlinearity, non-breaking v. breaking conditions, and the dynamic response of the body will thus be assessed for extreme conditions. Designs for survivability should thus be better evaluated. The resulting CFD methodology will also benefit analysis of extreme wave interaction with ships, other marine vehicles and structures in general. For example interaction with freak waves and the 'green' water problem have yet to be resolved.

A major design consideration for offshore wave energy devices is survivability under extreme wave loading. The aim of this project is to predict loading and response of two floating wave energy devices in extreme waves using CFD (computational fluid dynamics), in which fluid viscosity, wave breaking and the full non-linearity of Navier-Stokes and continuity equations are included. Two classes of device will be considered: Pelamis (of Ocean Power Delivery Ltd.), the prototype having already successfully generated electricity into the grid, and a floating buoy device responding in heave, known as the Manchester Bobber (Manchester University), which is being tested at 1/10th scale. Both classes of device are thought to be competitive with other renewable energy sources, being economically roughly equivalent to onshore wind energy. The CFD simulations will be undertaken in three ways: by commercial codes, CFX and COMET (STAR-CD); by recent advanced surface-capturing codes; and by the novel SPH (smoothed particle hydrodynamics) method. In order to address the uncertainties in the CFD approaches, such as the accuracy of prediction and the magnitude of computer resources required, a staged hierarchical approach of increasing computer demand will be taken in: mathematical formulation (from an inviscid single fluid to a two-fluid viscous/turbulence approach); wave description (from regular periodic to focussed wave groups including NewWave); and complexity of structure (from a fixed horizontal cylinder parallel to wave crests to the six degrees of freedom of Pelamis). At each stage, numerical results will be compared with experimental data. The significance of the inviscid v. viscous formulations, wave nonlinearity, non-breaking v. breaking conditions, and the dynamic response of the body will thus be assessed for extreme conditions. Designs for survivability should thus be better evaluated. The resulting CFD methodology will also benefit analysis of extreme wave interaction with ships, other marine vehicles and structures in general. For example interaction with freak waves and the 'green' water problem have yet to be resolved.