Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

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Journal of Building Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jobe

An innovative method of simulating close-to-nature-dynamic air movement

through dynamically controlling electric fans
Wei Yu a, b, *, Yixi Zhou a, b, Baizhan Li a, b, Liyang Ruan a, b, Yue Zhang a, b, Chenqiu Du a, b, **
a
Joint International Research Laboratory of Green Buildings and Built Environments (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China
b
National Center for International Research of Low-carbon and Green Buildings (Ministry of Science and Technology), Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The electric fan is widely employed in buildings by occupants to relieve dependences on air conditioning and
Natural airflow extend the acceptable temperature limits in summer. While dynamic airflow is known to effectively improve the
Electric fan thermal comfort of human, a convenient method of creating a comfortable and close-to-nature airflow is
Close-to-nature airflow
currently unavailable. This study simulated a dynamic air movement through referring to the physical param­
Thermal comfort
Flow field characteristics
eters of natural airflow, based on an commonly used electric fan and analysed the flow characteristics and
Cluster analysis comfort perceptions through experiments. The results of flow field characteristic showed that natural airflow had
a skewness of higher than 0 (i.e., features a right-skewed distribution) and a β value distributing in a range of
1.2–1.6. Two typical airflow patterns of sine and random were then simulated through regulating the motor
speed cycles of fan. The acceptable air velocities and change periods for dynamic airflow were determined
through a human exposure experiment, responding to different temperatures (28 ◦ C, 30 ◦ C, 32 ◦ C) and relative
humidities (50%, 70%, 90%). An evaluating metrics including comfort indices and flow parameters was pro­
posed to identify the comfort airflow. According to the principle that β>1.1 is close to natural wind, the best
airflow movement form under different dynamic airflows is obtained. The outcomes based on cluster analysis
indicated that the field parameters of sinusoidal airflow were much close to that of natural airflow. The proposed
method of simulating close-to-nature airflow provides a technical guidance and data support for creating dy­
namic air movement and improving thermal comfort for people exposing to air movement. The work is expected
to promote the fan utilization efficiently in warm environments and benefit to energy savings in buildings.

1. Introduction improve their surrounding thermal environment, rather than changing

The continuous development of global economy and society result in
an on-going living standard improvement and hence, the continuous
demands for energy consumption in buildings; for example, it has been
even up to 40.0% of the total energy consumption in European [1] and
27.5% in China [2]. Traditional air conditioners set temperatures in a
narrow range, e.g., 26–28 ◦ C [3] to maintain a steady state and ther­
mally neutral environment with a low-speed airflow. While according to
thermal adaption theory, people are more adaptive to the environments
they are exposed and express more satisfactions and comfort in naturally
ventilated buildings [4]. Results based on airflow expectation survey
have shown that people to a greater extent expect natural airflow to
temperature only [4–6]. In warm environments, a suitable airflow can
improve people’s perceived thermal comfort both psychologically and
physiologically [7].
Natural airflow, as a typical dynamic airflow, is characterized with
changing air velocity and direction over time, which brings a pleasant
stimulation to human body. According to Yu et al. [8], people were more
than happy to improve the indoor thermal environment through natural
ventilation. In fact, whether an airflow is comfortable sensed by people
are objectively determined by a variety of flow field parameters,
including air speed, turbulence intensity (Tu), frequency (f), the power
spectrum function (β) and other characteristics. Fanger and Pedersen [9]
studied the effects of periodically fluctuating turbulent airflow on

* Corresponding author. Joint International Research Laboratory of Green Buildings and Built Environments (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University,
Chongqing, 400045, China.
** Corresponding author. Joint International Research Laboratory of Green Buildings and Built Environments (Ministry of Education), Chongqing University,
Chongqing, 400045, China.
E-mail addresses: yuweixscq@126.com (W. Yu), duchenqiu90@163.com (C. Du).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103410
Received 6 December 2020; Received in revised form 24 September 2021; Accepted 1 October 2021
Available online 9 October 2021
2352-7102/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
W. Yu et al.
human thermal comfort, revealing that airflow velocity, pulsation
amplitude, and frequency were strongly correlated to human thermal
comfort. Under a hot and humid environment in summer, increasing air
velocity enabled to reduce significantly thermal discomfort caused by
the ambient high temperature [10]. In addition, at constant air tem­
perature and air velocity, airflow with high pulsation strength was more
likely to produce a cooling sensation for people [11]. Studies from Zheng
et al. [10], Tanabe et al. [12], and Tanabe and Kimura [13], have
concluded that the sinusoidal airflow between 0.5 and 2 m/s produced
the best cooling effect, according to the features of airflow on thermal
sensation in high-humidity environments. Another factor that been
mainly paid attention to by researchers is the fluctuation frequency of
air velocity. Fanger and Pedersen [9] pointed out that an air velocity
with a fluctuating frequency of 0.3–0.5 Hz was the best suited for
cooling sensation perception, while Arens et al. [14] found that airflow
fluctuation frequency of 0.7–1.0 Hz provided a better cooling effect than
those of 0.2–0.4 Hz. Jia [15] argued that the upper limit of the airflow
fluctuation frequency affecting human thermal comfort was 1 Hz, while
the lower limit was in the range of 0.000244–0.00488 Hz. Further
Tanabe and Kimura [16] addressed that periodic turbulent airflow had a
more significant effect on the human body than constant airflow.
However, due to the various experimental designs and numinous vari­
ables, no consistent results were concluded by these studies.
With in-depth recognition on airflow characteristics, it has been
addressed that the fluctuation of natural airflow has typical turbulence
characteristics, which is differed in air velocity power spectrum density
and frequency [17–19]. Zhu [20] conducted an onsite measurement of
natural airflow and mechanical airflow and compared their physical
characteristics; the authors reported that the β values of the double
logarithmic power spectrum were different for two kinds of airflow,
where the β > 1.1 can be used to distinguish the natural airflow from
mechanical airflow. As a result, a number of studies have been con­
ducted to simulate the natural airflow and explore the thermal comfort
of human, by developing various devices. Zhu et al. [21] simulated the
natural airflow through adjusting the fan frequency conversion, and
found that most subjects (91%) preferred simulated natural airflow to
stable mechanical airflow. Hua et al. [22] used a DC brushless motor to
improve motor response speed and obtained a close-to-natural airflow
with a β value varying close to that of natural airflow. As people may be
adaptive and fatigued to constant air velocity after a long period of time
[23], these research have verified that creating air movement with dy­
namic characteristics to natural airflow enables to create an enhanced
cooling sensation on human body and improve thermal comfort of
people [24]. However, due to the complexity and cost of the devices, all
these results are based on laboratory experiments and its possible ap­
plications in reality in buildings are limited. As a result, a commonly
used device for promotion consideration is warranted.
In contrast, the electric fans are widely used in buildings as a primary
means of increasing indoor airflow and improving thermal comfort,
which provides a possibility for potential device from the perspective of
wide application. However, despite of a variety types of fan in market,
under a fixed gear, the air velocity was unable to be changed dynami­
cally with time. As exposure to constant airflow by fans for a long time is
likely to cause discomfort [25], there are no methods are available of
how to design the electric fan and create a close-to-natural-airflow
airflow, to the authors’ knowledge. How to determine the physical pa­
rameters of the simulated airflow such as velocity, fluctuation fre­
quency, changing periods, and how to create such dynamic airflows by
just regulating the electric fans are still underexplored. To respond to
this, the main purpose and aims of this study is designed as follows:
1) identify the acceptable limits for temperature-relative humidity in
warm-humid environments where the electric fans can be applied,
and subsequently determine the appropriate air velocity responding
to each temperature-humidity level, to provide the basic parameters
for simulating dynamic airflow;
2
Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410
2) explore the airflow field characteristics of natural airflow and pro­
pose a method to create dynamic air movement via electric fan, ac­
cording to the physical parameters and power spectral density of
natural airflow.
The work is expected to provide a reference for dynamic air velocity
design and creation through regulating the commonly used electric fans,
considering thermal comfort and cooling efficiency, which contributes
to alleviate the dependences on air conditioners and achieve energy
savings in buildings.
2. Methodology
To answer the first mentioned aims, a human exposure experiment in
a well-controlled climate chamber was first conducted. A variety of
temperature and relative humidity conditions were designed, referring
to the possible warm/hot-humid conditions in summer time. The
acceptable limits for temperature and relative humidity in warm envi­
ronments, as well as the appropriate air velocity at each temperature-
humidity level were determined, which provided fundamental param­
eters for dynamic airflow designs. At the second stage, an onsite mea­
surement of natural airflow was first conducted, to identify the physical
parameter characteristics of airflow and the key factors for simulating
close-to-nature airflows. Based on the selected parameters, two types of
airflow, i.e. sinusoidal airflow and random airflow were chosen and
simulated by regulating the motor speed through a single-chip micro­
computer. The airflow field characteristics were measured, comparing
to the dynamic characteristic of natural airflow and the comfort per­
formance were evaluated based on a proposed evaluating metrics. The
methods are described in details in the following sections.
2.1. Human experiments under warm and humid conditions
2.1.1. Experimental platform
Experiments were carried out in a climate chamber with size of 4 m
(L) × 3 m (W) × 3 m (H). The enclosure structure was made of poly­
urethane foam board with a 100-mm-thick double-sided plastic-coated
steel plate, ensuring a constant thermal environment from outdoor cli­
mates. The control ranges and accuracies of parameters in the climate
chamber were: dry bulb temperature range of − 5 to 40 ◦ C with accuracy:
±0.3 ◦ C (<10 ◦ C, ±0.5 ◦ C); RH range of 10–90% with accuracy: ±5%; air
velocity (adjustable through inverter use) range of 0.1–2 m/s with ac­
curacy: 0.3 m/s. In this study, the top orifice plate was used to supply air
to the occupancy zone; the background air velocity was less than 0.1 m/
s, to avoid the effects on air supply by fans.
2.1.2. Experimental conditions
It has been well acknowledged that increasing air velocity in neutral
and cold environment has the risks to cause draught for people [26],
while in warm environments appropriate air movement can effectively
improve the thermal comfort of human body and extend the acceptable
temperature zones [7]. As a results, three temperature levels, covering
warm and hot conditions in summer were selected. In addition, majority
of the current studies mainly focused on the coupling effects of tem­
perature and air velocity [16], while the coupling effects of air humidity
are rarely explored. To this end, three levels of relative humidity (RH) of
50, 70, and 90% were employed in this study, reflecting the typical
warm-humid summer environment in Chongqing, China. Total 9
experimental conditions (9 combinations of temperature 28 ◦ C, 30 ◦ C,
32 ◦ C and relative humidity 50%, 70%, 90%) were chosen in this study,
in order to explore the human body’s thermal response to a wide tem­
perature and humidity range.
2.1.3. Subjects
Subjects were selected using a pre-recruitment form. Due to the
adaptability of people to the local climate characteristics in which they
W. Yu et al.
live [27], experimental subjects were requested to have been in
Chongqing for more than one year. This was to ensure that they were
adapted to the hot and humid climate in summer in Chongqing. Subjects
whose individual features were significantly different from others were
eliminated during the pre-tests.
The basic information of the selected subjects is provided in Table 1.
Subjects were required to wear uniform clothing (short sleeves, shorts,
sandals) in experiments, to eliminate the influence of varying clothes
[28,29]. To ensure the experiment and data quality, subjects were
requested to be on a regular diet, get adequate sleep on the day before
the experiment, not alcohol or coffee, and avoid the intake of medica­
tions, strenuous exercise, and mood swings to ensure a good physical
and mental state on the day of the experiment.
2.1.4. Questionnaires
Thermal sensation is the subjective description of whether the
human body is “cold” or “hot” in the surrounding environment. Thermal
comfort so it can be used as an auxiliary index of thermal sensation, so
that the comfort of the environment can be evaluated objectively.
The thermal perceptions of subjects were mainly surveyed using an
electronic questionnaire during tests. The thermal sensation of subjects
was evaluated by ASHRAE 55 [30] seven-level scale, i.e., -3 Cold, -2
Cool, -1 Slightly cool, 0 Neutral, +1 Slightly warm, +2 Warm, +3 Hot. In
addition, to reflects the degree of satisfaction of people for the given
environment, the thermal comfort index was employed and evaluated
by five-level scale, namely, 0 Comfortable, +1 Slightly uncomfortable,
+2 Uncomfortable, +3 Very uncomfortable, +4 Extremely uncomfort­
able [31].
2.1.5. Experimental procedure
Before experiments, subjects were familiarised with the experiment
through a short pre-test. The experimental procedure and questionnaire
were explained to them, to make sure that subjects fully understand the
relevant issues and ensure the validity of experimental data.
Subjects were required to arrive at the laboratory 30 min in advance,
put on uniform clothes, and cooperate with the experimenters to attach
the thermocouple on the local body part, including left upper arm, chest,
left thing and calf. After finishing the preparation work, subjects were
sedentary for 30min to minimize the impact of the external
environments.
The formal experiment started when subjects entered the climate
chamber and sat down. The formal experiment lasted 2.5 h [32]. The fan
was placed in the center of the climate chamber, 1.5 m far from subjects.
A schematic diagram of the experimental site is shown in Fig. 1. They
were asked to be stabilised for 20 min in a stable condition, and asked to
fill in a questionnaire. The fan was then turned on, and the subjects were
asked to fill in the questionnaire immediately. After 15 min, subjects
were asked to fill in the same questionnaire for the second time. Then the
fan was turned off and the first stage was finished. Before taking part in
the second stage, subjects were asked to be sedentary for 20 min, with no
air movement available. The same process was repeated in the third
stage, with changed air velocity by fans. The specific experimental flow
chart is shown in Fig. 2. To note, during the first experiment, the gear of
fan was regulated to change air velocity for each experimental condition
but the air velocity was maintained at a fixed level when subjects were
exposed to air movements during 15min.
Table 1
Subjects’ basic information.
Age Height Weight Clothing residence time in
(year) (cm) (kg) insulation (clo) Chongqing (year)
50 ± 168.25 ± 67.65 ± 0.32 20.5 ± 2.65
5.23 2.36 6.83
3
Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410
2.2. Airflow field measurement
2.2.1. Sampling principle
Previous studies have shown that the upper limit for ambient airflow
frequency is 1Hz [33], where people are sensitive to. Thus a sampling
frequency of 8Hz was used to ensure sampling data. A previous study
[34] suggested that a period of >3 min should be used for sampling air
velocity to fully record the airflow characteristics so that this study
adopted a sampling time of 5 min. When a fast Fourier transform (FFT)
was performed for air velocity samples, the sample size N was chosen to
be an integer multiple of two. That is, N = 2r, and r is a positive integer.
2.2.2. Principle of airflow field
The regulation of fan frequency conversion is an effective method for
generating 1/f turbulent airflow. Herein, we chose two types of airflow
of sine and random and modified an electric fan by inputting the pro­
gram to a single-chip microcomputer, controlling the motor speed, and
making the motor speed change according to the variation laws. As the
changing period of air movement is a key factor for simulating dynamic
airflow, different air velocity periods were considered and tested in this
study. The flow field characteristics were measured and analysed at the
distance of 1.5 m far from the fan along the axial direction. The varia­
tions laws and simulating methods of these two types of airflow are
described as follows.
2.2.2.1. Sinusoidal airflow. Sinusoidal fluctuating flow is mainly char­
acterised by three variables (period t, maximum air velocity Vmax, and
minimum air velocity Vmin), all of which can be determined experi­
mentally. In this study, the sine wave unit period t0 was between 12.8
s–192.0 s, and the period change amount n (n ∈ N*) was less than or
equal to 17. As the motor speed changed according to the sinusoidal
cycle, the axis air velocity sequence was assumed as sinusoidal. Various
periods for sine waves (12.8, 38.4, 64.0, 89.6, 115.2, 140.8, 166.4, and
192.0 s) were adopted in tests.
2.2.2.2. Random airflow. Natural airflow speed is likely to be random.
Such random physical phenomena are unpredictable, non-repeatable,
and are based on unique random numbers called exact or physical
random numbers [35]. Thus, an exact random number generator is
needed to simulate natural airflow. However, conventional true random
number generators are generally implemented using circuit thermal
noise, oscillating circuits, etc., and are poorly suited for installation in­
side a fan. Herein, the pseudo-random number method was used in this
study to control the motor in view of the limited word length, memory,
and fan volume of the single-chip microcomputer. Despite the impossi­
bility to statistically characterize the random number in the same way as
in the case of sampling from a uniform distribution, a close approxi­
mation is possible [36–38].
Therefore, for random airflow, the range of air velocity change
(maximum and minimum air velocity) and the distribution of random
numbers are two important factors. Regarding the distribution of
random numbers from the perspective of comfort, the random air ve­
locity should be changed within the comfort interval, and the comfort­
able air velocity corresponding to maintain the heat balance of human
body should have the highest probability to occur. In addition, consid­
ering that natural airflow often brings a good sense of pleasure to the
human body, the random airflow distribution should be close to that of
natural airflow. Therefore, the normal distribution was chosen as the
probability density function of the random wave flow.
The two key parameters of the normal distribution are its mean μ, i.
e., the air velocity at a thermal sensation vote (TSV) of zero, and vari­
ance σ2, i.e., the mean of the variance of a series of natural airflows (σ2
= 0.16). According to the 3σ principle [39] of normal distribution, the
comfortable air velocity interval was divided into six intervals: (μ − 3σ,
μ − 2σ), (μ − 2σ, μ − σ), (μ − σ, μ), (μ, μ + σ), (μ + σ, μ + 2σ), (μ + 2σ, μ
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Fig. 1. Thermal comfort test arrangement.

Fig. 2. Human body thermal comfort experiment flow chart.

+ 3σ). The output values for air velocity and probability distributions for
each interval were determined using the comfort air velocity values by
the afore mentioned human experiments. The output value and proba­
bility distribution of airflow velocity in each interval are shown in
Table 2.
The relationship between the serial input value y and air velocity x
(m/s) is given by
y = 60.958x2 + 142.19x + 46.1
The random program was input to the single chip microcomputer, so
that the motor speed changed randomly according to the normal dis­
tribution. When the probability distribution function of the random
airflow was determined, we addressed the other parameters controlling
motor operation, i.e., the frequency generated by random numbers. As a
result, the time when the random airflow motor maintained a certain
speed was regarded as the random airflow period.
2.2.3. Instruments and sampling methods
(1) An AirDistSys 5000 micro-air velocity monitoring system, tripod
(support), ruler, plumb line, etc. Were used to simultaneously measure

Table 2
airflow Speed Output Value and Probability Distribution Table for Each Interval.
T/◦ C RH/% Effective interval of density function (serial port input value) and probability

28 50 Interval \ \ {95,180} {180,280} {280,400}

Probability \ 0.34 0.14 0.02
28 70 Interval \ \ {95,175} {175,280} {280,400} {400,540}
Probability \ \ 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
28 90 Interval \ \ {60,130} {130,225} {225,335} {335,470}
Probability \ \ 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
30 50 Interval \ \ {75,150} {150,250} {250,365} {365,500}
Probability \ \ 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
30 70 Interval \ {90,170} {170,270} {270,390} {390,530} {530,690}
Probability \ 0.14 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
30 90 Interval \ {90,170} {170,275} {275,395} {395,540} {540,700}
Probability 0.02 0.14 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
32 50 Interval {115,200} {200,310} {310,435} {435,580} {580,750} {750,940}
Probability 0.02 0.14 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
32 70 Interval {90,170} {10,270} {270,390} {390,530} {530,690} {690,870}
Probability 0.02 0.14 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02
32 90 Interval {181,280} {280,405} {405,550} {550,710} {710,895} {895,1000}
Probability 0.02 0.14 0.34 0.34 0.14 0.02

4
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

multi-point airflow velocity and temperature. The measuring accuracy,

range, and sampling frequency were ±0.02 m/s ±1% reading, 0.05–5 1 ∑N
v= vi , (2)
m/s, and 8 Hz, respectively. The sampling capacity, frequency, and time N i=1
length were set at N = 2400, 8 Hz, and 5 min, respectively. The sensor
was calibrated in the airflow tunnel by a high-precision laser Doppler where N is the number of sampling points.
velocimeter; the results featured a comprehensive frequency response,
high sensitivity, and low airflow speed, which was dedicated to low 2.3.2.2. Skewness and kurtosis. A discrete value for air velocity was
airflow measurement and indoor environment assessment (Fig. 3). within a certain time T and the probability distribution histograms were
According to Ouyang et al. [40], the indoor natural airflow preserved used to describe the distribution of air velocity during this cycle. As
the various dynamic characteristics of outdoor natural airflow. The in­ turbulent motion is intermittent, its air velocity probability distribution
door natural airflow sampling site was set up in the Natural Ventilation is skewed [41]. This was described by skewness (skew) and kurtosis
Laboratory of the School of Urban Construction and Environmental (kurt), which were defined as follows.
Engineering, Chongqing University. Since Chongqing belongs to a quiet ( )3
airflow area, in order to collect the airflow speed that can be sensed by 1 ∑N
vi − v
skew = √̅̅̅̅̅̅ , (3)
the human body, the indoor position near the airflowow is selected, 0.5 N i=1 v′ 2
m from the airflowow and 1.5 m from the ground, to collect the indoor
( )4
natural airflow. Sampling was performed on three different days of the 1 ∑N
vi − v
transition season, and the data was designed as natural airflow 1, natural kurt = √̅̅̅̅̅̅ . (4)
N i=1 v′ 2
airflow 2, and natural airflow 3. During the tests, the mean air velocity
for natural airflow 1, natural airflow 2, and natural airflow 3 were 0.627
m/s, 0.695 m/s and 0.733 m/s respectively, with measured air tem­ 2.3.2.3. Turbulence. Turbulence (Tu) reflects the relative fluctuation of
perature of 27.3 ◦ C, 24.9 ◦ C and 25.4 ◦ C. air velocity over a period of time and can be calculated as
√̅̅̅̅̅̅
v′ 2 σ
2.3. Data processing and statistical analysis Tu = = . (5)
v v
2.3.1. Data analysis for human experiments For discreting air velocity samples, the variance U′ 2 can be calculated
Linear regression of the relationship between Thermal Sensation as
Vote (TSV) and air velocity was carried out for the human thermal
comfort experiment. At the same time, multivariate linear regression 1 ∑ N
v′ 2 = (vi − v)2 . (6)
was used to establish relationships between TSV and environmental N − 1 i=1
temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity. The comfortable air
velocities for different temperature and humidity conditions were 2.3.2.4. Power spectrum function. Spectrum analysis is a method of
determined by regression models. A significant hypothesis test of the transforming time-domain signals into frequency-domain signals. The
regression equation was performed. IBM SPSS Statistics 21 software was magnitude of the power spectral density function corresponding to
used to perform the F-test to determine the probability. The P value was different frequencies f reflects the strength of the signal over a certain
compared with the significance level of α = 0.05, and p < 0.05 was period of time.
considered to indicate a significant linear or quadratic relationship be­ The spectral analysis function for air velocity includes the pulsation
tween variables. velocity v’, the power spectral density function E(f)(m2/s), of which
obeys the following relationship:
2.3.2. Data analysis for measured airflow field parameters
To characterize the airflow field features, some metrics were intro­ ∫∞
duced and data were analysed in this study. E(f)df = v′ 2 . (7)
0

2.3.2.1. Mean air velocity. For the collected air velocity samples vi (i = For discrete air velocity samples, power spectral density can be
1, 2, …, N), the mean of discrete forms can be obtained as

Fig. 3. Fan test site.

5
W. Yu et al.
obtained from the discrete Fourier transform of the air velocity sample V
(f) as
2T
E(f) = |V(f)|2 . (8)
N
During analysis, OriginPro 9.1 software was used to conduct spectral
analysis of air velocity samples. The sampled air velocity was first smoothed
and processed by FFT to obtain the frequency-power spectral density map.
Then, the frequency and power spectral density were taken as logarithms to
determine the log E(f)–log f relationship and obtain a double logarithmic
power spectrum. The spectral characteristics of air velocity were analysed in
the form of E(f) = a + b × f− β, and the double logarithmic power spectral
density curve was fitted by the least square method to determine β.
In addition, the cluster analysis was used to cluster and analyze the
flow field characteristics (e.g., skewness, kurtosis, turbulence, and power
spectrum eigenvalues) between natural, sinusoidal and random airflows
using IBM SPSS Statistics 21. The stepwise clustering method for classi­
fication was employed, to test and verify the credibility of the results.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Human thermal comfort test
3.1.1. Human thermal comfort at different air velocities
The fan is arranged in the center of the climate chamber, 1.5 m away
from the subject, to reduce the mutual influence of the airflow. The
Fig. 4. Linear regression of thermal sensation voting and air velocity under different operating conditions.
6
Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410
subjects were required to complete the blowing exposure experiment
with different wind speeds under all 9 temperature and humidity con­
ditions (using the first, fourth, and twelve wind speeds of the Wuye fan).
Regression analysis was carried out to build the relationship between the
mean thermal sensation of subjects and air velocities by electric fans in 9
experimental conditions, where data for the steady state condition at
each stage were used). Fig. 4 shows the results of regression analysis and
the grey areas mark the comfort zone (TSV∈[− 0.5, 0.5]) according to
ASHRAE 55 and GB/T 50785–2012. In a hot environment with the
relative humidity of 50%/70%, there were similar trends between air
velocity and thermal sensation that the increased air velocities reduced
the thermal sensations of subjects; the coefficients of the linear regres­
sion model were approximately equal to each other. With the increase of
temperature, the coefficient gradually increased, indicating that the
change of thermal sensation caused by the increase of per airflow speed
unit was larger and the improvement effects was more obvious. How­
ever, under high temperature and humidity conditions, the improve­
ment effect of air velocity was obviously limited. According to the
marked comfort zone, even at 32 ◦ C/90%RH, subjects’ thermal sensa­
tions were still in an acceptable comfort range (-0.5,0.5), indicating that
increasing air velocity under such conditions were able to meet demands
of human thermal comfort.
The following regression models for different temperature and hu­
midity levels was established. The correlation coefficients from Eqs.
9–17 indicate that in hot environments, TSV was well linearly correlated
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

with air velocity when using electric fans; the statistical tests of Table 3
regression model variance were significant (p < 0.05). Comfortable air velocity ranges under different temperature and humidity
Temperature = 28 ◦ C conditions.
Temperature T/◦ C Humidity RH/% Comfortable air velocity m/s
RH = 50%, TSV = − 0.67v + 0.28 (R2 = 0.92), (9)
max min
RH = 70%, TSV = − 0.95v + 0.7 (R2 = 0.92), (10)
28 50 0.62 0.00
28 70 0.78 0.23
2
RH = 90%, TSV = − 0.54v + 0.5 (R = 0.74). (11)
28 90 0.77 0.23
30 50 0.86 0.33
Temperature = 30 C ◦
30 70 1.42 0.72
30 90 1.50 0.69
RH = 50%, TSV = − 0.53v + 0.59 (R2 = 0.76), (12)
32 50 1.87 1.09
32 70 2.09 1.15
2
RH = 70%, TSV = − 0.70v + 1.07 (R = 0.90), (13)
32 90 2.31 1.56
RH = 90%, TSV = − 0.81v + 1.09 (R2 = 0.89). (14)

Temperature = 32 C ◦ is plotted in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the change of airflow speed with
time was irregular. However, the values of natural airflow for three
RH = 50%, TSV = − 0.94v + 1.62 (R2 = 0.90), (15) samples pulsated near the average values and were not approximately
symmetrical with respect to the average speed line.
2
RH = 70%, TSV = − 0.78v + 1.48 (R = 0.83), (16)
Fig. 6 further shows the probability distribution histogram from
RH = 90%, TSV = − 0.75v + 1.93 (R2 = 0.89). (17) natural airflow samples, with the solid line representing normal distri­
bution. The skewness, kurtosis, and average air velocities of the sampled
natural airflows are listed in Table 4.
Fig. 5 and Table 4 show that the skewness of natural airflow was
3.1.2. Determination of comfortable air velocity higher than 0 and oscillated around three without no obvious trends.
To link human thermal comfort to environmental parameters, we That is, the speed distribution of natural airflow was concentrated in the
used temperature, RH, and air velocity as independent variables, and the region of values that were smaller than the average air velocity.
average thermal sensation of subjects as the dependent variable and
performed multiple linear regressions, as shown in Equation (18). 3.2.2. Turbulence analysis for natural airflow
2
TSV = 0.266T + 0.009RH − 0.727v − 7.602 (R = 0.878) (18) Data acquired for repeated measurements of the samples were used
for turbulence analysis, and the results are listed in Table 5. The tur­
2
The obtained R value was indicative of a good fitting, i.e., the bulence values of three natural airflow samples were 0.343, 0.331, and
thermal sensation of subjects was significant correlated with tempera­ 0.398 respectively, indicating a large-pulsation flow.
ture, humidity and air velocity (p < 0.05). Further analysis of regression Based on the data taken from the repeated sampling, we made a
coefficients revealed that temperature and air velocity had greater in­ logarithmic graph of the typical power spectral density function G and
fluences on thermal sensation. For example, for every 1 ◦ C increase in frequency f obtained for each measuring data. Comparing the logarith­
temperature, the TSV was increased by 0.266 unit; while for every 1 m/s mic power spectrum curves obtained by various calculations, the β value
increase in air velocity, the TSV was decreased by 0.727 unit, indicating was mainly concentrated between 1.2 and 1.6, which fully reflected the
that human thermal sensation in hot environments could be greatly 1/f turbulence characteristics of natural airflow.
improved by increasing air velocity. The modified fan was tested for the
flow field, considering the blowing comfort and cooling efficiency of the
fan at different distances, and selecting the wind speed distribution at 3.3. Field characteristics analysis for simulated dynamic airflow
the axis point on the 1.5 m range of the fan tuyere in different periods for
testing. The test is repeated 3 times under the same working condition The sine waves and random waves (randomly changed according to
and the same cycle, and each acquisition time is 5 min. According to the the normal distribution) are selected to control the motor speed and
comfort zone of TSV∈[− 0.5, 0.5], the upper and lower limits of the simulate dynamic airflows, referring to the parameter characteristics of
comfortable air velocity ranges can be obtained, as shown in Table 3.
From Table 3, in a hot environment, the effect of increasing air ve­
locity depended on temperature and RH. Specifically, at 28 ◦ C/50%, no
air velocity was needed to maintain comfort and only a small air velocity
range of 0.2–0.7 m/s was needed to modify TSV into the comfort zone at
28 ◦ C/70%; while higher air velocity of 1.1–2.3 m/s was necessary at
32 ◦ C. In addition, at 50% and 70% ◦ C, the upper and lower limits for
comfortable air velocity were not strongly influenced by RH; at 90% ◦ C,
the upper and lower limits of the comfortable air velocity ranges
increased significantly with increasing RH. This meant that high relative
humidity had a remarkable effect on required air velocity under warm
environment. Overall, under different temperature and humidity con­
ditions, the upper and lower limits of the air velocity have been deter­
mined, providing a reference air velocity and fluctuation amplitude for
creating a dynamic airflow.

3.2. Natural airflow field characteristics

3.2.1. Instantaneous airflow speed and probability distribution

The measured instantaneous airflow speed and fluctuation with time Fig. 5. Natural airflow speed fluctuation in three sample cases.

7
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Fig. 6. Natural air velocity distribution probability histogram.

sinusoidal cycle, the airflow speed sequence of the flow field at a dis­
Table 4
tance of 1.5 m from the axis changes sinusoidally. The program was
Natural airflow skewness and kurtosis statistics.
input to the electric fan single chip microcomputer to make the motor
Natural airflow Natural airflow Natural airflow speed change according to the sinusoidal law. After modifying the
1 2 3
electric fan, different sine wave periods (12.8s, 38.4s, 64.0s, 89.6s,
Skewness 0.345 0.723 0.094 115.2s, 140.8s, 166.4s, 192s) were tested at 1.5 m from the fan axis.
Kurtosis 2.345 3.146 2.485 Taking the change period of t = 12.8s as an example, Fig. 7 shows the
Average air velocity m/ 0.627 0.695 0.733
s
changes of instantaneous airflow speed.
The probability distribution of airflow speed at 1.5 m away from the
fan in the direction of the jet axis were calculated and is shown in
Tables 6–8. From Table 6, the skewness of the sinusoidal airflow velocity
Table 5
distribution in different periods was greater than 0, suggesting that the
Natural airflow turbulence statistics.
airflow had a typical natural airflow characteristic and featured a right-
Natural airflow 1 Natural airflow 2 Natural airflow 3 skewed distribution. Kurtosis, as a characteristic number that charac­
Tu 0.343 0.331 0.398 terizes the peak height of the probability density distribution curve at
Variance 0.025 0.022 0.026 the average value, is usually 3 for normal distribution. Table 7 show that
the kurtosis of the sinusoidal airflow velocity distribution of different
periods was less than 3, indicating that the data distribution was
natural wind, and the fluctuation period is changed to make the airflow
variation with time. A electric fan is developed that automatically ad­ insufficient kurtosis.
Table 8 presents the results of turbulence analysis of air velocity in
justs the motor speed to create dynamic airflows and the baseline air
velocity is changed according to the designed temperature and humidity different comfort ranges for different periods of sinusoidal airflow. The
turbulences of different periods were distributed in the range of
condition.
0.2–0.6Hz; the turbulent flow first increased and then decreased upon
3.3.1. Sinusoidal airflow cycling.
The formation of sinusoidal fluctuating airflow is mainly related to Fig. 8 shows the power spectrum characteristics of the airflow field
three variables: period t, maximum and minimum airflow speed Vmax calculated at the axis direction, 1.5 m away from the fan. Overall, the
and minimum Vmin, sine wave unit period t0 = 12.8s, period variation spectral functions of different sinusoidal periods were slightly changed
input value n ∈ N*, n ≤ 17. As the motor speed changes according to the within comfort ranges. The energy power distribution was independent

Fig. 7. Time series diagram of sinusoidal fluctuating airflow.

8
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Table 6
Skew value statistics of sinusoidal air flow in different periods.
T(s) Working condition

28 ◦ C/50%RH 28 ◦ C/70%RH 28 ◦ C/90%RH 30 ◦ C/50%RH 30 ◦ C/70%RH 30 ◦ C/90%RH 32 ◦ C/50%RH 32 ◦ C/70%RH 32 ◦ C/90%RH

12.8s 0.247 0.293 0.540 0.455 0.195 0.050 0.087 − 0.043 − 0.050
38.4s 0.457 0.113 0.371 0.479 0.034 0.233 0.093 0.044 0.160
64.0s 1.387 0.153 0.347 0.268 0.204 0.040 0.118 0.074 0.296
89.6s 1.432 0.318 0.354 0.157 0.301 0.149 0.143 0.294 0.256
115.2s 1.356 0.025 0.318 0.397 0.301 0.129 0.066 0.249 0.208
140.8s 0.348 0.350 0.141 0.004 0.228 0.269 0.186 0.065 0.186
166.4s 0.517 0.188 − 0.023 0.063 0.058 0.092 0.338 0.084 0.171
192.0s 0.338 − 0.084 0.309 0.208 0.153 0.346 0.306 0.103 0.155

Table 7
Kut value statistics of sinusoidal air flow in different periods.
T(s) Working condition

28 ◦ C/50%RH 28 ◦ C/70%RH 28 ◦ C/90%RH 30 ◦ C/50%RH 30 ◦ C/70%RH 30 ◦ C/90%RH 32 ◦ C/50%RH 32 ◦ C/70%RH 32 ◦ C/90%RH

12.8s 2.263 2.253 2.677 2.491 2.446 2.391 2.358 2.517 2.421
38.4s 2.048 2.025 2.196 2.345 2.468 2.412 2.019 2.299 2.253
64.0s 1.772 1.857 2.348 2.097 2.071 2.394 1.964 2.383 2.533
89.6s 1.899 1.906 2.128 1.868 2.380 2.348 2.019 2.600 2.457
115.2s 1.970 1.922 2.459 2.387 2.665 2.246 2.158 2.436 2.429
140.8s 2.092 2.313 2.222 2.277 2.425 2.153 2.092 2.505 2.611
166.4s 2.112 1.832 2.362 2.509 2.160 2.311 2.272 2.528 2.340
192.0s 2.093 1.988 2.563 2.528 2.315 2.336 2.302 2.434 2.328

Table 8
Tu value statistics of sinusoidal air flow in different periods.
T(s) Working condition

28 ◦ C/50%RH 28 ◦ C/70%RH 28 ◦ C/90%RH 30 ◦ C/50%RH 30 ◦ C/70%RH 30 ◦ C/90%RH 32 ◦ C/50%RH 32 ◦ C/70%RH 32 ◦ C/90%RH

12.8s 0.438 0.397 0.435 0.416 0.329 0.375 0.323 0.269 0.320
38.4s 0.629 0.434 0.502 0.532 0.368 0.346 0.426 0.280 0.324
64.0s 0.822 0.533 0.457 0.512 0.350 0.327 0.394 0.305 0.313
89.6s 0.706 0.549 0.481 0.529 0.364 0.324 0.401 0.259 0.313
115.2s 0.767 0.556 0.438 0.367 0.340 0.305 0.337 0.287 0.318
140.8s 0.492 0.379 0.363 0.332 0.274 0.310 0.311 0.236 0.229
166.4s 0.443 0.668 0.331 0.285 0.277 0.269 0.295 0.230 0.256
192.0s 0.468 0.361 0.279 0.304 0.286 0.293 0.342 0.231 0.235

from the frequency segment, decreasing with increasing frequency in
the range of 1–4 Hz. The E(f) was less affected by periods, indicating that
the energy distribution of air velocity had no obvious relationship with
the period of the sine wave.
Based on Table 5, the comfortable air velocities had been obtained
under different temperature-humidity conditions. Therefore, Fig. 9
further shows the relations between the fluctuation periods and β values
for sinusoidal airflow responding to each condition, which indicated a
good linear relationship.
The relationship between wind speed and temperature and humidity
is a multi-parameter regression model, non-linear. It has been
acknowledged that the β value > 1.1 can be used as an evaluation index
to distinguish the mechanical airflow from the natural airflow. There­
fore, consider that when the β value is 1.1, the corresponding period
value is the comfort period of the sinusoidal fluctuating airflow, as
shown in Table 9.
The relationship between the serial port input value y and airflow
speed x (m/s):

y = 60.958x2+142.19x+46.1 (19)

The random program is input into the single-chip microcomputer, so

that the motor speed changes randomly according to the normal
distribution.

3.3.2. Random airflow

The different random waveform periods (0.1, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 s) for
two mean air velocities of 1.56 m/s and 2.31 m/s were tested and the air
velocity probability distribution at the distance of 1.5 m from the fan
along the axial direction was calculated. As shown in Table 10, when the
period was less than 1s, the probability distribution of the random
airflow was less than 0. This suggested that the airflow had typical
Fig. 8. Spectral characteristics with different periods of sinusoidal airflow.

9
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Table 11 lists the results of the turbulence of air velocity according to

the above comfort zone of random airflow. The turbulence values of
different periods ranged between 0.1 and 0.2, being close to natural
airflow.
Taken together, from Tables 10 and 11, the distribution of random
airflow was close to that of natural airflow. Based on normal distribution
characteristics and the comfortable air velocity ranges, the maximum
and minimum values of random air velocity were obtained from the
results. Referring to Tables 10 and 11, the normal distribution of random
air velocity was selected, where the mathematical expectation μ is 0 in
different conditions, and the variance σ2 is derived from previously
acquired natural airflow data. The results are shown in Table 12.
Fig. 10 shows the power spectrum characteristics at the distance of
1.5 m from the fan along the axial direction, where the random wave­
forms acted as a function of cycle. On the whole, the spectrum function
of random airflow did not sensitively change with different periods, and
the energy distribution was independent from the frequency, decreasing
with increasing frequency and being relatively uniform in the range of
1–4 Hz. The E(f) was also independent of the period, i.e., the energy
Fig. 9. Linear fit of the sinusoidal fluctuation period and β value in different
distribution of air velocity had no obvious relationship with the period
comfort intervals.
of the random airflow.
Use SPSS software to perform a single-sample K–S test on whether
Table 9 the wind speed in the flow field at a certain distance conforms to the
Sine wave comfortable air velocity interval and comfort period table. normal distribution. The test results are shown in Table 14. Where t
represents the time interval between every two adjacent random
Temperature HumidityRH/ Comfortable Comfortable Comfort
T/◦ C % air velocity air velocity periods/s numbers in the timing diagram where random numbers appear. It can be
m/s (serial seen from the table that when the period is 0.1s, 3s, 5s, under the action
control of the random number generator, the wind speed at a distance of 1.5 m
value)
from the fan axis obeys a normal distribution.
max min max min Table 13 shows that when the period was 5 s, the β of random airflow
28 50 0.62 0 150 50 192 was nearly 1.373 (>1.1), indicating a close-to-natural-airflow charac­
28 70 1.18 0.23 300 85 162 teristics. For the other periods, β values were less than 1.1, demon­
28 90 0.77 0.23 190 85 198 strating a typical mechanical airflow characteristics. While at a period of
30 50 0.86 0.33 200 90 179
0.1 s, the f was equal to 10 Hz so that it was difficult for people to feel the
30 70 1.42 0.72 390 175 186
30 90 1.5 0.69 390 170 179 change of air velocity. Therefore, the larger periods of 3s and 5s were
32 50 2.09 1.15 700 280 175 better for human sensing the dynamic changes of air movement.
32 70 1.87 1.09 500 280 195 Meantime, this reduced the requirements of high frequency conversion
32 90 2.31 1.56 820 400 199 for the motor.

mechanical airflow characteristics and the air velocity featured a left- 3.4. Cluster analysis results
skewed for probability distribution. When the period was greater than
3s, the probability distribution of most random airflows was greater According to the above-mentioned analyses, an comfortable air
than 0 and right-skewed, which was close to that of natural airflow. The movement can be summarized: (a) maintain the human body thermally
kurtosis of the probability distribution of the random airflow air velocity comfortable through regulating air velocities responding to different
fluctuated around 3, which was the same as that of natural airflow. temperature-humidity ranges; (b) exhibit an airflow field characteristic
that is close to natural airflow, including the air velocity, skewness,
turbulence, and power spectrum β value. In such cases, this study pro­
Table 10 posed a method to evaluate a close-to-nature airflow, as shown in
Statistical descriptions of air velocity for different periods of random airflow. Fig. 11.
Cycle s Skew Kurt Average air velocity m/s According to the evaluating method in Fig. 11, The airflow field
characteristics obtained from simulated sinusoidal and random fluctu­
0.1 − 0.072 2.967 1.835
− 0.249 3.047 1.843
ations were analysed and compared to those of natural airflow. Sample
0.037 2.822 1.854 periods where the β was close to that of natural airflow were selected
1 − 0.429 3.269 1.766
− 0.467 3.730 1.745
Table 11
− 0.269 3.666 1.767
Statistics of Tu values for different periods of random airflow.
3 0.251 2.784 1.844
− 0.035 2.959 1.739 Cycle s Tu
0.022 2.553 1.754
5 0.012 2.784 1.780 1 2 3
0.116 2.829 1.823 0.1 0.134 0.130 0.116
0.194 3.788 1.745 1 0.193 0.191 0.144
7 0.219 3.524 1.767 3 0.156 0.197 0.179
− 0.197 2.791 1.760 5 0.169 0.143 0.197
0.162 3.183 1.717 7 0.191 0.169 0.183
9 0.297 3.489 1.791 9 0.162 0.147 0.181
0.326 2.817 1.825
0.139 2.996 1.737

10
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Table 12 influencing factors and the airflow features. According to the K-means
Random waveform comfortable airflow parameter table. iterative algorithm, the class centre point was continuously adjusted,
σ2/σ Temperature T/ Humidity RH/ Comfortable Mean and the convergence criterion value was set to zero (iteration stopped
◦
C % air velocity μm/s when the minimum class centre change distance calculated by two it­
m/s erations became equal to the initial class centre distance). Based on these
max min conditions, the data were divided into four categories and clustering
0.16294/ 28 50 0.62 0 0.31
results are obtained in Table 15. The airflows were numbered according
0.403658 28 70 1.18 0.23 0.705 to the different periods (12.8s, 38.4s, 64.0s, 89.6s, 115.2s, 140.8s,
28 90 0.77 0.23 0.5 166.4s, 192s) responding to different comfortable airflow speed
30 50 0.86 0.33 0.595 intervals.
30 70 1.42 0.72 1.07
From Table 15, when the three airflows are divided into 4 categories
30 90 1.5 0.69 1.095
32 50 2.09 1.15 1.62 according to cluster analysis, random airflows No.1/2/3/5/6 are in a
32 70 1.87 1.09 1.48 separate group; sinusoidal airflow No.2 is in one group; sinusoidal
32 90 2.31 1.56 1.935 airflow No.1 is in one group; sinusoidal airflow No. 3/4/5/6/7/8/9,
natural airflow 1/2/3 and random airflow 4 are classified in the same
group. According to the control strategy, sinusoidal airflow and random
airflow with a period of 5s in most conditions have similar airflow field
characteristic parameters with natural airflow, indicating that they can
better imitate natural airflow. The random airflow is smaller in margin,
which is different from the sinusoidal airflow.
In addition, the hierarchical clustering method is used to analyze the
data in Table 12, the Euclidean square distance is used to define the
distance between the variables, and the Q-type clustering method is used
according to the various flow field characteristics of the four flow fields.
Various variable values classify the types of airflow, and use Z scores to
standardize all variables according to the standardization method of
statistics, and convert cases into samples with a sample mean of 0 and a
standard deviation of 1. The vertical icicle diagram of the hierarchical
clustering method is obtained.
Fig. 12 shows that when the number of clusters was set to four, the
four categories can be summarized as (i) random airflow 2, (ii) random
airflows 1/3/5/6, (iii) natural airflows 1–3 + random airflow 4 + si­
nusoidal airflows 3–9, and (iv) sinusoidal airflow 1/2. The characteris­
tics of random airflow 4, sinusoidal airflows 3–9, and natural airflow
were similar, which was consistent with the stepwise clustering analysis.
Fig. 10. Spectral characteristics of random waveforms with periodic Thus, controlling airflow using the above mentioned parameters
changes (excerpt). would allow to simulate a natural airflow-like airflow. For the airflow
regulations, the sinusoidal airflow under most conditions and random
airflow with a period of 5s exhibited the similar airflow field charac­
Table 13
teristics that are close to natural airflow. This provides us a guide
Spectral characteristics of random waveforms with periodic variations.
reference to automatically adjust the motor speed of electric fans ac­
Cycles β cording to the indoor temperature and humidity and create a dynamic
1 2 3 airflow, which are believed to provide a more comfortable feeling for
0.1 0.429 0.442 0.541 people.
1 0.536 0.581 0.541
3 0.393 0.496 0.468 4. Conclusions
5 0.590 1.373 0.943
7 0.571 0.614 0.439
9 0.455 0.737 0.632
This study based on human experiments, explored the acceptable
temperature-relative humidity zones where air movement can be
employed to enable human thermal comfort in warm environment, and
determined the upper and lower limits of air velocities responding to
Table 14
different temperatures (28/30/32 ◦ C) and relative humidities (50%,
Single sample K–S test results.
70%, 90%), which provided the baseline air velocities and variation
Number t/s K–S test value P (P ≥ 0.05 is considered amplitude for simulating dynamic airflow by electric fans.
to obey normal distribution)
Based on onsite measurement and airflow field analysis, the skew­
1 0.1 0.09 0.218 0.177 ness of natural airflow was greater than 0 and right-skewed; the kurtosis
2 1 0.000 0.008 0.000
was fluctuated around 3 but with no significant changing trends; the
3 3 0.072 0.474 0.075
4 5 0.208 0.697 0.054 turbulence was concentrated in the range of 0.3–0.4Hz and the corre­
5 7 0.002 0.041 0.266 sponding β values were in the range of 1.2–1.6, providing the basic
6 9 0.001 0.000 0.013 metrics for simulating close-to-nature airflow.
7 10 0.046 0.000 0.000 A method was proposed to simulate dynamic airflows of sine and
random through regulating the motor speeds of the electric fans. The
(192.0 s for sinusoidal airflow, one sampling per period for random airflow field characteristics were measured and the method for evalu­
airflow). ating the airflow performance was proposed, including comfort indices
The stepwise clustering analysis was adopted to identify the and physical characteristics compared to natural wind. The stepwise
clustering analysis identified that the sinusoidal airflow was the closest

11
W. Yu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 45 (2022) 103410

Fig. 11. Imitating comfortable natural airflow characteristic system.

to natural airflow.
Table 15
The work of determining the comfort air velocities in warm-humid
Cluster analysis for different types of airflow.
environment and simulating dynamic airflows according to the natural
Case number airflow type Cluster Distance wind characteristics provides a theoretical and technical guidance for
10 Random airflow1 1 0.140 developing local devices to create dynamic airflows conveniently. The
11 Random airflow2 1 0.935 control strategy by modifying the motor rotating speed of the commonly
12 Random airflow3 1 0.176
used electric fans is easily achieved in markets and meantime possibly
14 Random airflow5 1 0.395
15 Random airflow6 1 0.392 reduce the risk of discomfort when people are exposed to constant
2 Sinusoidal airflow2 2 0.258 airflow for a long time. Moreover, this would promote the fan applica­
1 Sinusoidal airflow1 3 0.374 tion in buildings, which are believed to reduce dependence on air con­
3 Sinusoidal airflow3 4 0.158 ditioning and expand the non-air conditioning periods, contributing to
4 Sinusoidal airflow4 4 0.079
building energy savings.
5 Sinusoidal airflow5 4 0.294
6 Sinusoidal airflow6 4 0.200
7 Sinusoidal airflow7 4 0.233 Author statement
8 Sinusoidal airflow8 4 0.213
9 Sinusoidal airflow9 4 0.217
13 Random airflow4 4 0.552
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with
16 Natural airflow1 4 0.218 other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our
17 Natural airflow2 4 0.821 work, and we do not have any commercial or associative interest that
18 Natural airflow3 4 0.230 represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

Declaration of competing interest

We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with

other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our
work, and we do not have any commercial or associative interest that
represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted.

Acknowledgements

This paper is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of

China (Grant No: 2016YFC0700301), and the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant Number 52078076).

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