Modelagem numérica do conforto térmico dentro da cabine de um veículo elétrico a partir de dados experimentais termofisiológicos

Abstract

Currently, the thermal comfort is adjusted according to a reference temperature of the automotive manufacturer, which must be reached and kept constant inside the passenger compartment. Even in "automatic" mode, the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning) system takes into account only environmental factors to regulate the temperature and speed of air that exists from aerators. However, thermal comfort depends on personal preferences and factory settings do not always satisfy most of the population. Moreover, sometimes the system ends up spending more energy than necessary, because it is not well configured for all profiles and climatic conditions, without necessarily guaranteeing the thermal satisfaction of occupants. In fact, when it comes to electric cars, the HVAC is the highest consumer o the battery power, second only to the engine group. Thus, taking into account that from 2035 the marketing of internal combustion engine vehicles’ will be discontinued in France, there is a growing interest in optimizing the energy efficiency of this specific system. Therefore, this study was dedicated to studying and analyzing, experimentally and numerically, the thermal comfort of various groups of the population, in various climatic conditions, in order to develop an HVAC system with a more intelligent, personalized and energy efficient cabin thermal management.