Game-Style Outdoor Airflow Simulation for Fast Design of Cooling Systems
PI: Wangda Zuo
This project requests a 50% RA for summer 2026 only. No tuition or other funding is needed.
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
This project extends an existing Fast Fluid Dynamics (FFD) model—originally developed for indoor airflow applications—to simulate outdoor airflow conditions for building cooling systems. Cooling units such as cooling towers and air-cooled chillers significantly impact building energy consumption, accounting for roughly 19% of total building electricity use. Sufficient cooling is also a key for safe operation of mission critical facilities, such as data center. These units’ performance is heavily influenced by their placement and surrounding environment, yet current evaluation via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is often prohibitively slow and costly for industry practice.
We aim to develop a fast, real-time outdoor airflow simulation tool to facilitate rapid design iteration. The enhanced FFD model must address challenges unique to outdoor environments, such as variable boundary conditions, large-scale domains, and turbulent interactions. The tool will be integrated with a real-time visualization platform to produce an interactive, game-style simulation for engineering applications.
The PI has been collaborating with the Center for Immersive Experiences on the real-time visualization of FFD model for indoor airflow simulation. The ICDS team led by Patrick M. Dudas will support this project. This collaboration between engineering and ICDS reflects a continued commitment to interdisciplinary research by combining domain knowledge in building environmental systems with cutting-edge computational and visualization approaches.
MEDIUM/LONG-TERM GOAL
Leverage the validated tool and initial results to submit an interdisciplinary grant proposal focused on advanced cooling system design through fast outdoor airflow simulation. The potential funders are major HVAC manufacturers, who already expressed needs for such technology.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- Develop a prototype game-style simulation tool using the extended FFD model
- Generate preliminary simulation results to support future funding proposals
- Validate and publish results in a peer-reviewed journal
SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants applying to the project should have:
- A strong background in programming for CFD and FFD
- A solid background in modeling of building cooling system
- Good understanding of simulation needs for cooling practice
- A degree in Architectural/Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering field
- Experience in numerical modeling using C/C++ code
- Post-Comprehensive Ph.D. student