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Comparison of STAR-CCM+ and ANSYS Fluent for simulating indoor airflows

  • Research Article
  • Indoor/Outdoor Airflow and Air Quality
  • Published:
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Abstract

Suitable air distributions are essential for creating thermally comfortable and healthy conditions in indoor spaces. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is widely used to predict air distributions. This study systematically assessed the performance of the two most popular CFD programs, STAR-CCM+ and ANSYS Fluent, in predicting air distributions. The assessment used the same meshes and thermo-fluid boundary conditions for several types of airflow found in indoor spaces, and experimental data from the literature. The programs were compared in terms of grid-independent solutions; turbulent viscosity calculations; heat transfer coefficients as determined by wall functions; and complex flow with complicated boundary conditions. The two programs produced almost the same results with similar computing effort, although ANSYS Fluent seemed slightly better in some aspects.

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Acknowledgements

The research presented in this paper was financially supported by the national key project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, on “Green Buildings and Building Industrialization” through Grant No. 2016YFC0700500.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Ying Zou, Xingwang Zhao & Qingyan Chen

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Qingyan Chen

Authors
  1. Ying Zou
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  2. Xingwang Zhao
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  3. Qingyan Chen
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Correspondence to Qingyan Chen.

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Zou, Y., Zhao, X. & Chen, Q. Comparison of STAR-CCM+ and ANSYS Fluent for simulating indoor airflows. Build. Simul. 11, 165–174 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0378-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0378-8

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