 The computer system used for numerical modeling
of heat transfer in Building envelope components (e.g., fenestration systems, wall
assemblies, etc.) consists of two DECServers 5000/300, six Digital Alpha Workstatioins
3000 (OSF/Xwindow operating system), and several IBM compatible PC's (Windows NT/Windows95
operating system). All of the computers are networked within campus wide area network, and
have access to the Internet.Several special purpose computer programs, utilizing finite
element and finite difference methods, are installed on the computer system and used for
computer modeling. Some of the computer programs are developed locally and they include:
THERM 2.0 - 2D finite element analisys (FEA) conduction and radiation analysis program,
TABA - 2D finite difference method (FDM) conduction analysis program, ISOWIN - 1-D heat
transfer analysis of fenestration systems. Public domain computer programs are also in
use, and they include: WINDOW4.1 - 1D heat transfer and solar-optical properties
calculation program; THERM 2.0 - 2D FEM conduction and radiation analysis program with
automated mesh generation; RESFEN 3.0 - regression analysis program for calculating annual
energy performance of fenestration systems; Energy-10 - heat balance method program for
analyzing energy performance of whole buildings. Several computer programs are general
purpose commercial software packages. FIDAP is a 3-D
FEM program for analyzing fluid flow and heat transfer in arbitrary geometry; ANSYS is a 3-D FEM program for structural
analysis and basic heat transfer analysis; and ProEngineer is a 3D solid modeling program
with mesh generation and interface to FEM packages. For large three-dimensional problems
(i.e., complete fenestration systems, complete wall sections, etc.) a supercomputer
facility consisting of several CRAY C-90
and J90 computers at the National
Energy Research Supercomputer Center, has been used in conjunction with a
supercomputer version of the FIDAP program.
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