Measurement of airflow in an aircraft cabin using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique

Velocity and turbulence intensity profiles of airflow inside a section of Boeing 737 aircraft cabin were measured using PIV technique. The purpose of the measurement was to provide experimental data for the validation of CFD models being developed for evaluation of air quality and thermal comfort. The test section is approximately 5.6 m long, 2.8 m high and 3.4 m wide, holding 18 passenger seats distributed in 3 rows. A thermal manikin that accurately reproduces the geometry and heat generation of a human being was seated in one of the seats to simulate the human body, In order to provide a realistic distribution of heat load for the cabin, each of the remaining 17 seats was equipped with a 100 W heater to simulate the heat output of a person. A total of nine planes of image data were acquired in the aircraft cabin near the manikin; six of them were oriented vertically and three were oriented horizontally. The measurement planes were composed of individual sections measuring 0.61 x 0.61 m. Each section was designed to overlap 0.061 m with all adjacent sections to ensure data continuity. The nine planes were composed of different number of sections due to the limitation of the seating area. Image data were processed and presented in both vector and turbulence intensity plots. The experiment results exhibited some flow non-uniformity at the joints of the linear diffuser sections along the centerline of aircraft cabin. Furthermore, the blockage effects as well as natural convection plumes from the manikin resulted in complex flow patterns around the manikin. Seating arrangement may also influence the flow pattern in an aircraft cabin.