Air Diffusion Concept for Climate Comfort Improvement 2000-01-0979

Current systems of air diffusion inside the car cabin are leading in some conditions to passenger discomfort. To solve this problem our company has developed a new concept of air diffusion. It consists in an air distribution system composed of a wide central air diffusion area on the top of the instrument panel and two lateral outlets. To evaluate the comfort performances of the concept a methodology based on experiments, simulation and subjective evaluation has been defined and used. The comparison between the current air diffusion and the new one shows a significant impact on the driver's and passenger's comfort. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methodology developed to analyze the air diffusion impact on the comfort and the improvements obtained by the new concept.