Abstract: Solar radiation has a serious impact on the thermal environment in vehicle compartment, thereby reducing the interference of solar radiation to vehicle compartment has an important role in both improving passenger thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption. Based on the heat balance method, this paper expresses the theoretical derivation of heat transfer process in vehicle compartment, including conduction, convection and radiation, and presents a method to calculate environmental and solar radiations in the vehicle compartment. Based on the theoretical study the research carries out numerical simulation to evaluate the effects of different heat transfer processes on the temperature profile in a vehicle compartment under the typical solar radiation in South China. The result indicates that the solar radiation is the main factor that affects the temperature profile. To reduce the influence of solar radiation, the investigation also evaluates the impact of windshield glazing properties and object absorption rate on the compartment temperature profile. It is noted that the transmission rate of glaze and object absorption rate have significant impact on the compartment temperature profile. The proper transmittance for windshield glaze can significantly reduce the temperature inside the compartment, which can improve the occupant thermal comfort and potentially reduce vehicle air conditioning energy consumption.

Key words: Glazing property, Heat Transfer, Thermal comfort, Vehicle compartment