- Author
- Walton, G. N.
- Title
- Algorithms for Calculating Radiation View Factors between Plane Convex Polygons with Obstructions.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBSIR 86-3463, October 1986,
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- thermal radiation; algorithms; blocking; computer programs; performance tests; comparison; graphs (charts) | computer graphics
- Identifiers
- radiative heat transfer; view effects
- Abstract
- The report describes several developments in the calculation of radiation view factors between plane convex surfaces. Gaussian integration is shown to greatly improve the line integral methods for computing unobstructed view factors. Calculation techniques from computer graphics are found to be helpful when the view between surfaces is partially obstructed by other surfaces. A hierarchy of tests is developed to eliminate non-obstructing surfaces in an efficient manner. A technique of projecting the shadows of obstructing surfaces is developed for computing the obstructed view factors. It is shown that the new algorithm is more accurate and generally faster than the algorithm in another modern program.