LAUSR

The present study aims to investigate coupled heat transfer by natural convection, conduction and surface radiation through hollow brick walls. The numerical simulations are conducted for two typical walls built with hollow bricks in order to find the configuration that minimizes the heat gains or losses and then improves the thermal performances of the building. The outside vertical surface is submitted to an incident solar flux and outdoor environment temperature, while the inside surface is submitted to indoor environment temperature. The effects of the incident solar flux, the internal aspect ratio of hollow bricks and the thermal emissivity on the fluid flow and heat transfer through the building walls are analyzed. The results show that the hollow brick wall of type 1 improves the thermal resistance and leads to the lowest global heat transfer between the outside and inside of the building.