Modelling and simulation of heat transfer by convection in aerogel treated nonwovens

Simulation and numerical modeling are becoming increasingly popular due to the ability to seek solutions for a problem without undertaking real-life experiments. For the problems of heat transfer, these techniques to generate relevant data by incorporating different changes to the input parameters. Heat transfer property of textile materials is a major concern since it influences comfort properties of clothing. In this paper, numerical simulation was applied to evaluate the heat flux, temperature distributions, and convective heat transfer coefficients of the fibrous insulating materials treated with aerogel. The computational model simulated the insulation behavior of nonwoven fabrics without and with aerogel. Ansys and Comsol were used to model and simulate heat transfer. The simulation was performed assuming laminar flow and since the Mach number was < 0.3, the compressible flow model with Mach number < 0.3 was used. The results of simulation were correlated to experimental measurements for validation. Furthermore, aerogel-treated fabric samples showed better thermal performance. Using this model, the heat transfer properties of the nonwoven fabrics treated with aerogel can be optimized further.