Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation of Air Circulation in a Non-AC Bus Coach System

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru- 560076, Karnataka, India

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru- 560024, Karnataka, India

3 Department of Mathematics, School of Engineering and Technology, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru- 560076, Karnataka, India

4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, SJM Institute Technology, Chitradurga-577502, Karnataka, India

5 BLDEA’s V.P. Dr. P.G. Halakatti College of Engineering and Technology, Vijayapur-586103, Karnataka, India

6 Faculty of Engineering, Kuwait College of Science and Technology, Doha District, 7th Ring Road, 35004, Kuwait

7 Sanjeevan Engineering & Technology Institute, Sanjeevan Knowledge City, Panhala, Kolhapur, Maharastra, India

Abstract

Air circulation plays a vital role in the comfort of passengers in a bus, being a non-AC bus without any aid from the air conditioning system. The circulation of air is utterly dependent on the design of the bus and the natural flow of air. However, optimize the flow of air inside the bus, a study on the design of the bus is needed. In this regard, experimental work was carried out to achieve uniform airflow by redesigning the coach into an aerodynamic shape. The openings are provided at the  leading edge of the bus to evaluate the best possibility for air to circulate in the bus. Three openings were provided at the leading edge of the bus, the first and second openings were mere openings, and the third opening was fitted with a roof vent providing three different geometric patterns to airflow. The initial boundary conditions were developed by considering that all windows and doors of the bus are closed. The scaling ratio of 1:20 was considered for modeling the bus. The experiments were conducted in the wind tunnel test rig. It was observed from the experimentation that the velocity of the air was considered to be the most influential parameter for the optimal air circulation. The velocities of  21.96 m/s and 22.68 m/s were obtained inside bus. The obtained experimental velocities were validated with results obtained by the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). It was observed that a deviation of 5% for the given velocity of 20 m/s.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Niranjana, S. J., Kubsad, S. S., Ravichandran, G., and Santhosh, N. “A Comprehensive Understanding of Airflow in Non Air conditioned Bus Coaching System.” International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Vol. 9, No. 3, (2020), 1222–1225. https://doi.org/10.35940/ijeat.C5317.029320
  2. Kanekar, S., Thakre, P., and Rajkumar, E. “Aerodynamic study of state transport bus using computational fluid dynamics.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 263, (2017), 062052. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/263/6/062052
  3. Patidar, A., Gupta, U., and Bansal, A. “Fuel Efficiency Improvement of Commercial Vehicle by Investigating Drag Resistance.” In SAE International, 2015. https://doi.org/10.4271/2015-01-2893
  4. Norwazan, A. R., Khalid, A. J., Zulkiffli, A. K., Nadia, O., and Fuad, M. N. “Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Lift and Drag Force of Sedan Car Spoiler.” Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 165, (2012), 43–47. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.165.43
  5. Petzäll, J., Torlund, P. Å., Falkmer, T., Albertsson, P., and Björnstig, U. “Aerodynamic design of high-sided coaches to reduce cross-wind sensitivity, based on wind tunnel tests.” International Journal of Crashworthiness, Vol. 13, No. 2, (2008), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/13588260701788476
  6. Vollaro, R. de L. “Indoor Climate Analysis for Urban Mobility Buses: a CFD Model for the Evaluation of thermal Comfort.” International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, Vol. 1, No. 1, (2013), 1. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20130101.11
  7. Aliahmadipour, M., Abdolzadeh, M., and Lari, K. “Air flow simulation of HVAC system in compartment of a passenger coach.” Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 123, (2017), 973–990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.05.086
  8. Shen, K., Li, F., and Ni, J. “1D/3D Coupling Calculation Analysis on Bus Cooling System.” Energy and Power Engineering, Vol. 06, No. 14, (2014), 550–556. https://doi.org/10.4236/epe.2014.614048
  9. Rodrigues, A. F. A., Gertz, L. C., Cervieri, A., and Telh, M. A. “Aerodynamic Analysis of a Vehicle Minibus.” In SAE Technical Paper Series, 23rd SAE Brasil International Congress and Display, 2014. https://doi.org/10.4271/2014-36-0327
  10. Shafie, N. E. A., Kamar, H. M., and Kamsah, N. “Effects of air supply diffusers and air return grilles layout on contaminants concentration in bus passenger compartment.” International Journal of Automotive Technology, Vol. 17, No. 5, (2016), 751–762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-016-0074-1
  11. Thabet, S., and Thabit, T. H. “CFD Simulation of the Air Flow around a Car Model (Ahmed Body).” International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), Vol. 8, No. 7, (2018), 2250–3153. https://doi.org/10.29322/IJSRP.8.7.2018.p7979
  12. Shravanabelagola Jinachandra, N., Sadashivappa Kubsad, S., Sarpabhushana, M., Siddaramaiah, S., and Rajashekaraiah, T. “Modeling and computational fluid dynamic analysis on a non‐AC bus coach system.” Heat Transfer, Vol. 49, No. 8, (2020), 4870–4877. https://doi.org/10.1002/htj.21857
  13. Kale, S. R., Veeravalli, S. V., Punekar, H. D., and Yelmule, M. M. “Air flow through a non-airconditioned bus with open windows.” Sadhana, Vol. 32, No. 4, (2007), 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-007-0029-3
  14. John, P., Sriram, B., R, S. K., Kumar, S. V., Ramasamy, P., and Vijay Ram, C. “Ventilation Improvement in a Non-AC Bus.” In SAE International, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-2457
  15. S, V., C, V. R., and P, S. “Evaluation of Bus Ventilation Methods Using CFD.” In SAE International. https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-26-0043
  16. Ünal, Ş. “An Experimental Study on a Bus Air Conditioner to Determine its Conformity to Design and Comfort Conditions.” Journal of Thermal Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 1, (2016), 1089–1089. https://doi.org/10.18186/thermal.277288
  17. Moureh, J., Menia, N., and Flick, D. “Numerical and experimental study of airflow in a typical refrigerated truck configuration loaded with pallets.” Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Vol. 34, No. 1–3, (2002), 25–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1699(01)00178-8
  18. Niranjana, S., Kubsad, S. S., Nagaraj, Y., Manjunath, S., and Shivakumar, S. “Experimental Investigation of Air Circulation Using Duct System in a Non-AC Bus Coach.” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 1065, No. 1, (2021), 012006. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1065/1/012006
  19. Fayazbakhsh, M. A., and Bahrami, M. “Comprehensive Modeling of Vehicle Air Conditioning Loads Using Heat Balance Method.” In SAE International, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4271/2013-01-1507
  20. Askari, S., and Shojaeefard, M. H. “Mathematical Modeling of Potential Flow over a Rotating Cylinder.” International Journal of Engineering, Transactions A: Basics, Vol. 24, No. 1, (2011), 55–63. Retrieved from https://www.sid.ir/en/Journal/ViewPaper.aspx?ID=194565
  21. Sharifipour, M., Bonakdari, H., and Zaji, A. H. “Impact of the Confluence Angle on Flow Field and Flowmeter Accuracy in Open Channel Junctions.” International Journal of Engineering, Transactions B: Applications, Vol. 28, No. 8, (2015), 1145–1153. Retrieved from https://www.ije.ir/article_72560.html
  22. Rahate, S. D., and Sarode, A. D. “Design of Air Distribution System for Operation Theatre Using Flow Visualization Techniques to Improve Flow Characteristics.” International Journal of Engineering, Transactions A: Basics, Vol. 33, No. 1, (2020), 164–169. https://doi.org/10.5829/IJE.2020.33.01A.19
  23. Kumar, R., and Saranprabhu, M. K. “Experimental Study on Flow Characteristics Around Twin Wind Blades (RESEARCH NOTE).” International Journal of Engineering, Transactions B: Applications, Vol. 31, No. 5, (2018), 820–825. https://doi.org/10.5829/ije.2018.31.05b.18
International Journal of Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 3
TRANSACTIONS C: Aspects
March 2022
Pages 572-579

Files

Cited by

Share

How to cite

Statistics