Folded double-skin façade (DSF): in-depth evaluation of fold influence on the thermal and flow performance in naturally ventilated channels

Numerous studies have only focused on vertical air channel performance, but there is still a need to perform in-depth research on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of atypical double skin façade (DSF) such as folded cases. A 2D steady-state numerical study was conducted using ANSYS-Fluent 18 to evaluate the impact of four inclination angles and fold positions on DSF thermal performance. The simulation data were compared with a typical validated vertical DSF as the base case. The folded DSFs could decrease the average cavity and surface temperature by 2.4 °C through improving natural convection. Thefolded cases enhanced the airflow rate up to 27% higher than the base case supporting the folded geometries for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) DSF application.