Examination of the thermal adaptive effect of the adjustment of a seated human body's orientation relative to spot airflow

For persons exposed to spot airflow, their thermal sensations are considered to be greatly influenced by their posture relative to the spot airflow because of changes in the velocity distributions around their body caused by postural adjustments. On the other hand, as one of the usual thermal adaptive activities, office workers unconsciously alter their sitting posture for more comfort. Therefore, we examined the influence of sitting posture on the thermal characteristics of a person facing the spot airflow. In this paper we adopted the coupled simulation method of convection, radiation, moisture transport and Fanger's human thermal physiological model to examine the influence of the adjustment of the body's orientation relative to the opening of a personal spot air-conditioner. The results indicate that the orientation of the body, relative to the spot airflow, will greatly affect its local thermal characteristics.