Numerical Simulation of Vehicle Defroster Flow Field

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used in this investigation to determine the velocity field in the vicinity of vehicle windshield due to defroster flow. The analysis was performed using the CFD package STAR-CD. CFD results were obtained and compared to test data. Hot-wire anemometry was used to experimentally determine the velocity field in the vicinity of the defroster nozzle jet flow and windshield interior surface. The experimental results were used to verify the integrity of the CFD models and validate our use of CFD modeling. The ability of the CFD models to quantify the flow field can be inferred from the present results. Based on the degree of correlation of the velocity profiles between the CFD simulations and the experimental work, it can be concluded that CFD simulation is a valid technique to investigate the air flow characteristics of vehicle defroster and windshield flow field.