Three computational methods for analysing thermal airflow distributions in the cooling of data centers

Purpose The study employs three computational approaches, which are based on finite element, finite volume and lattice Boltzmann methods and which are respectively implemented via commercial Multiphysics software, opensource CFD code and GPU based code developed by the authors. The results focus on comparison of the three methods, all of which include models for turbulence, when applied to 2 rows of datacom racks with cool air supplied via an underfloor plenum. Design/methodology/approach This paper studies thermal airflows in a data center by applying different numerical simulation techniques that are able to analyse the thermal airflow distribution for a simplified layout of datacom racks in the presence of a computer room air conditioner. Findings Good quantitative agreement between the three methods is seen in terms of the inlet temperatures to the datacom equipment. The computational methods are contrasted in terms of application to thermal management of data centers. Originality/value The work demon...