[en] We investigate the transmission of aerosol particles in an airplane cabin with a joint approach using experiments and simulation. Experiments were conducted in a realistic aircraft cabin with heated dummies acting as passengers. A Sheffield head with an aerosol generator was used to emulate an infected passenger and particle numbers were measured at different locations throughout the cabin to quantify the exposure of other passengers. The same setting was simulated with a computational fluid dynamics model consisting of a Lagrange continuous phase for capturing the air flow, coupled with a Lagrange suspended discrete phase to represent the aerosols. Virtual measurements were derived from the simulation and compared with the experiments. Our main results are: the experimental setup provides good measurements well suited for model validation, the simulation does correctly reproduce the fundamental mechanisms of aerosol dispersion and simulations can help to improve the understanding of aerosol transmission for example by visualizing particle distributions. Furthermore, with findings from the simulation it was possible to crucially improve the experimental setup, proving that feedback between the numerical and the hardware world is indeed beneficial.
Disciplines :
Mechanical engineering Engineering, computing & technology: Multidisciplinary, general & others Public health, health care sciences & services Mathematics
Author, co-author :
Leithäuser, Christian ; Fraunhofer ITWM, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Norrefeldt, Victor; Fraunhofer IBP, Valley, Germany
SUCHDE, Pratik ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) > Department of Engineering (DoE) ; Fraunhofer ITWM, Kaiserslautern, Germany
External co-authors :
yes
Language :
English
Title :
Predicting aerosol transmission in airplanes: Benefits of a joint approach using experiments and simulation
Publication date :
June 2024
Journal title :
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme Bayerische Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Landesentwicklung und Energie Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Union Européenne
Funding text :
All authors would like to acknowledge support from the Fraunhofer versus Corona campaign funded by the Fraunhofer Society under the project AVATOR. Research at Fraunhofer IBP was partly funded by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, aviation research program BayLu25 under the project ViruKab, grant number ROB‐2‐3410.20_04‐10‐33/BLU‐2109‐0033. Pratik Suchde would also like to acknowledge partial support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Actions grant agreement no. 892761 “SURFING”. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.AVATOR–Anti‐Virus‐Aerosol: Testing, Operation, Reduction: Fraunhofer versus Corona campaign funded by Fraunhofer.
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