Numerical and experimental estimation of convective heat transfer coefficient of human body under strong forced convective flow

• We considered that the human body is exposed to strong forced convective flow.
• This research covered a large range of wind speeds from 1.08 to 12.67 m/s.
• We conducted wind tunnel experiment and CFD simulation.
• Convective heat transfer coefficient αc of the human body was investigated.

A human body may occasionally experience strong forced convective flow that exceeds 10 m/s, such as walking in the vicinity of tall buildings with a strong wind blowing against, involving in a severe tropical storm or typhoon, climbing a mountain against strong wind, or in an industrial air-shower like system during purging treatment. The objective of this study is to investigate the convective heat transfer around the human body, especially in forced convective flow in the context of outdoor environment. Wind tunnel experiment was conducted with a thermal manikin covering a wide range of wind speeds from 1.08 to 12.67 m/s. CFD simulation corresponding to the wind tunnel experimental setup was then carried out and its prediction accuracy was validated. Experimental results showed that the whole body convective heat transfer coefficient under a uniform velocity of 12.67 m/s was 71 W/m2/K and 76 W/m2/K in case of facing the wind and crossing the wind direction, respectively.

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