Are aircraft acceleration-induced body forces effective on contaminant dispersion in passenger aircraft cabins?

Numerical simulations for the effect of body forces due to aircraft acceleration on the airflow and contaminant dispersion in a model for a passenger aircraft cabin are performed in this study. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) was used as the in-cabin contaminant and served as a surrogate for cough particles in the size from 1.6 to 3.0 mu m. It was found that those body forces have a significant impact on the contaminant dispersion phenomena and concentrations, especially during the climb leg, where the time-integrated concentration was 2.4 to 2.8 times its counterpart during the steady level (cruise) flight case at the two monitoring locations for most of the simulation time. However, the exposure to the contaminant did not change appreciably during the descent leg. Air velocities, on the other hand, increased noticeably during the climb and descent legs, leading to evident changes in the airflow patterns, airflow circulation magnitude, and, at some locations, airflow circulation directions. The current study has limitations, requiring detailed calculations while considering parametric variations. The findings warrant a closer investigation into the effects of body forces due to aircraft acceleration on the airflow and contaminant dispersion in various passenger aircraft cabins.