CFD modeling to evaluate the thermal performances of window frames in accordance with the ISO 10077

This paper presents a two-dimensional numerical method for the thermal behaviour evaluation of the frame sections using GAMBIT 2.2 and ANSYS FLUENT 14.5 CFD code. The results have been validated in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 10077-2. The standard ISO replaces the air gas with a fictitious material “air solid” into the cavities. Besides the simulation carried out with ideal gas entails higher internal surface temperature than the air solid case. Therefore, the standard ISO imposes preventive computational conditions. The proposed numerical method can be implemented for several frame profiles with different features in terms of geometry and materials, representing a valid support in the design of new high thermal performance frames.