Case Study: Waseda University achieves better human thermal comfort simulation with Hexagon CFD

Using CFD to predict and evaluate human body thermal comfort

Waseda University sought to advance its research into human thermal comfort and air quality in built environments beyond the limitations of costly and variable physical experiments. The challenge required a sophisticated virtual simulation tool that could integrate a detailed human thermo-regulation model with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to predict body temperatures and comfort levels in scenarios like offices, vehicle interiors, and airborne pathogen dispersion.

The solution was implemented by Hexagon, which integrated Professor Tanabe's proprietary JOS thermo-regulation model directly into its Cradle SC/Tetra CFD software. This provided researchers with a powerful, flexible virtual testing environment that could simulate a wide range of human types and conditions, dramatically reducing the need for human test subjects and yielding more consistent results. The partnership with Hexagon has enabled Waseda to conduct critical research on thermal comfort and airborne disease transmission with greater efficiency and insight.

Waseda University

Shin‑ichi Tanabe

Professor