CFD results calibration from sparse sensor observations with a case study for indoor thermal map

Publication date: 15 May 2017
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 117
Author(s): Chaoyang Jiang, Yeng Chai Soh, Hua Li, Mustafa K. Masood, Zhe Wei, Xiaoli Zhou, Deqing Zhai
Current CFD calibration work has mainly focused on the CFD model calibration. However no known work has considered the calibration of the CFD results. In this paper, we take inspiration from the image editing problem to develop a methodology to calibrate CFD simulation results based on sparse sensor observations. We formulate the calibration of CFD results as an optimization problem. The cost function consists of two terms. One term guarantees a good local adjustment of the simulation results based on the sparse sensor observations. The other term transmits the adjustment from local regions around sensing locations to the global domain. The proposed method can enhance the CFD simulation results while preserving the overall original profile. An experiment in an air-conditioned room was implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experiment, four sensor observations were used to calibrate a simulated thermal map with $167\times 365$ data points. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and practical.