Comparison of Vacuum Glazing Thermal Performance Predicted Using Two- and Three-Dimensional Models and Their Experimental Validation

Authors

Brian Norton, Technological University DublinFollow
Philip Eames, University of Warwick
Yueping Fang, University of Ulster
Trevor Hyde, University of Ulster
Neil Hewitt, University of Ulster

Document Type

Conference Paper

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

1.3 PHYSICAL SCIENCES

Publication Details

Proceedings of 2008 ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference HT2008 August 10-14, 2008, Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Abstract

The thermal performance of vacuum glazing was predicted using two dimensional (2-D) finite element and three dimensional (3-D) finite volume models. In the 2-D model, the vacuum space, including the pillar arrays, was represented by a material whose effective thermal conductivity was determined from the specified vacuum space width, the heat conduction through the pillar array and the calculated radiation heat transfer between the two interior glass surfaces within the vacuum gap. In the 3-D model, the support pillar array was incorporated and modeled within the glazing unit directly. The difference in predicted overall heat transfer coefficients between the two models for the vacuum window simulated was less than 3%. A guarded hot box calorimeter was used to determine the experimental thermal performance of vacuum glazing. The experimentally determined overall heat transfer coefficient and temperature profiles along the central line of the vacuum glazing are in very good agreement with the predictions made using the 2-D and 3-D models.

Recommended Citation

Norton, B. et al (2008). Comparison of Vacuum Glazing Thermal Performance Predicted Using Two- and Three-Dimensional Models and Their Experimental Validation. ASME Summer Heat Transfer ConferenceJacksonville, Florida, 10-14 August.