Individualisation of virtual thermal manikin models for predicting thermophysical responses: Presentation held at Indoor Air 2011, the 12th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate

We identify key parameters to adapt physiological models to represent different morphological groups of individuals in terms of thermo-physical responses of the body to thermal conditions. For estimating the human thermoregulation responses towards ambient microclimate, a finite element implementation of a mathematical thermoregulation model is used. The specific implementation allows the modification of parameters which affect the thermoregulation. Relevant parameters are identified to adjust the model in terms of morphological parameters while some of the anthropometrical constraints are obtained from an ergonomic model. In order to calculate the heat transfer between skin surface of the virtual manikin and its surroundings, different computational codes, coupled with a co-simulation middleware application, are used