The Automotive HVAC Manikin is a highly realistic simulation device designed for testing automotive thermal environments and evaluating the performance of air conditioning systems (HVAC, Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning). It helps engineers optimize in-vehicle thermal comfort, air distribution, and energy efficiency by simulating the thermophysiological responses of the human body in real driving environments. Below are its core functions, application scenarios, and technical features:
For automotive engineers, developing vehicle comfort is undoubtedly a highly comprehensive art. They must not only ensure vehicle safety but also pursue excellence in details, such as soft interior design, aiming to create a welcoming feeling for passengers. However, the in-vehicle temperature environment is equally crucial, as a suitable temperature directly affects passenger comfort.
With the rapid expansion of the new energy vehicle market and continuous technological advancements, the conflict between vehicle range and air conditioning power consumption has gradually surfaced. Faced with this challenge, automotive development engineers need to deeply consider how to maintain a long driving range while ensuring the efficiency and performance of the air conditioning system, providing passengers with a sustained and stable comfortable environment. To achieve this goal, engineers need not only a deep understanding of traditional automotive engineering knowledge but also a grasp of the latest developments in new energy technologies. They may need to optimize battery management systems to improve energy efficiency, or develop new heat exchange technologies to enable air conditioning systems to maintain a constant interior temperature while consuming less electricity. This process requires engineers not only solid professional knowledge and innovative thinking but also a deep understanding and keen insight into user needs. Only in this way can they create new energy vehicles that are safe, comfortable, environmentally friendly, and economically efficient, meeting the diverse needs of modern society.
The application of this cutting-edge technology—the automotive HVAC human body model—not only optimizes the calibration of air conditioning systems but also deepens the precise testing and evaluation of cabin thermal comfort. Like a precise dancer, the system mimics the human posture within the cabin, using its unique sensing capabilities to meticulously measure environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, thermal radiation, and wind speed. It constructs a three-dimensional numerical dummy model, drawing upon the CFD simulation development concept for automotive cabin air conditioning thermal comfort and demonstrating powerful optimization and analysis capabilities. More importantly, the system incorporates considerations of Chinese human physiological characteristics, constructing the Berkeley-Zhang human thermal sensation and comfort evaluation model suitable for non-uniform and transient environments. The emergence of this innovative technology not only fills a gap in China's key automotive testing equipment but also represents a breakthrough in basic research and evaluation model software development related to human thermal physiology and thermal comfort. The air conditioning dummy testing system, with its unique charm and strength, injects new vitality into the advancement of the automotive industry.
Automotive air conditioning works on the principles of thermodynamics and the refrigeration cycle. Its core components include a compressor, condenser, evaporator, and expansion valve. The compressor plays a crucial role, compressing the low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant gas into a high-temperature, high-pressure gas. This process is akin to applying immense pressure to the gas, energizing it.
The high-temperature, high-pressure gas then enters the condenser. The condenser, typically located in front of the radiator, dissipates heat through airflow, cooling the gas and causing it to condense into a liquid.
The liquid refrigerant then passes through the expansion valve, where its pressure and temperature drop dramatically, becoming a low-temperature, low-pressure mixture of liquid and gas.
Finally, the refrigerant enters the evaporator. Located inside the vehicle, the low-temperature refrigerant absorbs heat from the interior, thus lowering the cabin temperature.
Thermophysiological Simulation
The dummy integrates high-precision sensors (such as temperature, humidity, and heat flow sensors) to monitor the heat load, skin temperature, and perspiration rate of key body parts (such as head, torso, and limbs) in real time, simulating the human body's thermoregulation response in high or low temperature environments.
It supports dynamic thermal response models, providing real-time feedback on the dummy's thermal comfort status (such as PMV/PPD indicators) based on parameters such as ambient temperature, wind speed, and radiant heat.
Air Distribution Testing
Multiple airflow measurement points are distributed on the dummy's surface, accurately capturing the airflow velocity, direction, and temperature distribution at the vehicle's air vents to assess whether the air conditioning system can evenly cover the driver and passenger areas.
Combined with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation, the air vent design is optimized to reduce localized airflow dead zones or discomfort from direct airflow.
Energy Consumption and Efficiency Analysis
By combining the dummy's thermal load data with the air conditioning system's power input, the energy consumption required for unit thermal comfort is calculated, providing a basis for energy-saving design.
Supports comparative energy consumption testing under different operating conditions (such as extreme cold/heat start-up, idling, and high-speed driving).
Air conditioning CFD simulation development and thermal comfort performance coupling analysis based on a "digital twin" virtual cockpit environment;
Real-vehicle matching calibration and optimization based on real-time environmental parameter measurements and thermal comfort performance prediction results;
Air conditioning thermal comfort performance benchmarking, development, verification, and acceptance testing and evaluation based on a "real vehicle" environment.
The emergence of a series of innovative tools, including the China Vital Signs Air Conditioning Dummy, 3D Numerical Dummy Model, and Human Thermal Comfort Evaluation Software System, provides strong technical support for simulation development and thermal comfort prediction analysis in the automotive industry. These tools can accurately simulate the thermal response of the human body in the car cabin and the impact of the air conditioning system on the human body, providing automakers with intuitive and reliable test data and evaluation results. In automotive CFD simulation development, the application of these tools makes predictive analysis more accurate, thereby guiding automakers to optimize the air conditioning thermal comfort performance of the car cabin during the design phase. By intelligently and automatically calibrating and optimizing air conditioning system domain controllers and control strategies, automakers can further improve the air conditioning performance of vehicle cabins, ensuring a comfortable driving experience for passengers under various climatic conditions. Furthermore, these tools can be applied to vehicle cabin thermal comfort evaluation projects, including whole-vehicle heating, air conditioning cooling, and automatic air conditioning performance testing. Through accurate test data and evaluation results, automakers can promptly identify and resolve potential problems, further improving the thermal comfort performance, air quality, and overall driving experience of the vehicle cabin. The application of advanced technologies such as sunlight simulation, collision lighting, metal halide light sources, and infrared light sources provides these evaluation tools with more realistic environmental simulation conditions. This makes the test results closer to real-world usage scenarios, providing stronger support for automakers' R&D efforts.
In the current booming automotive industry, automotive air conditioning dummies and related innovative tools have undoubtedly become a key force driving the development and optimization of automotive comfort. From virtual cockpit simulation based on "digital twins" to real-vehicle matching and calibration optimization, and the widespread application of whole-vehicle thermal comfort evaluation projects, this series of technologies not only provides automakers with precise support throughout the entire process from design to verification, but also helps them gain a competitive edge in the fierce market competition. In the future, with the continuous iteration of technology and the further improvement of environmental simulation methods, automotive air conditioning dummies will undoubtedly continue to empower the automotive industry, bringing drivers and passengers a safer, more comfortable, and intelligent travel experience, leading the automotive industry to new heights.
