A comprehensive numerical model examining the thermal performance of airships

A novel computational model for analyzing the airship’s transient thermal performance under different environmental conditions was developed. Radiative heat transfer and natural convection inside the airship were modeled using the control volume method. The Semi-Implicit Method aiming at the Pressure-Linked Equations algorithm was adopted to solve the control equations. Such approach was able to take into account the solar irradiative heat flux, the infrared radiation at different locations, and the convection both inside and outside the airship. The simulation results, showing the detailed distributions of temperature and velocity on the envelope and inside the airship, were in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The influences of solar position and material radiative properties on temperature distribution, as well as natural convective flow inside airship, were further simulated and discussed.