Thermal Capacity Effect on Transient Free Convection Adjacent to a Vertical Surface in a Porous Medium

In this paper we analyse how the presence of the thermal capacity of a vertical flat plate of finite thickness, which is embedded in a porous medium affects the transient free convection boundary-layer flow. At the time t = 0, the plate is suddenly loaded internally with a constant heat flux rate q, so that a transient boundary-layer flow is initiated adjacent to the plate. Initially, the transient effects due to the imposition of the uniform heat flux rate at the plate are confined to a thin fluid region near to the surface and are described by a small time solution. These effects continue to penetrate outwards and eventually evolve into a new steady state flow. Analytical solutions have been derived for these transient (small time) and steady state (large time) flow regimes, which are then matched by a numerical solution of the full boundary-layer equations. It has been found that the non-dimensional fluid temperature (or fluid velocity) profiles are reduced when the thermal capacity effects, described by a parameter Q ^*, are reduced. For small values of Q ^*, the approach of these profiles to their steady state values is monotonic. However, for large values of Q ^*, the temperature profiles are observed to locally exceed (pass through a maximum value) the final steady state values at certain distances from the plate. In general, the maxima in the temperature profiles increase in size as Q ^* increases and the time taken to approach the steady state solutions increases significantly.     

A numerical study of natural convection from a localized heat source in the lower plenum of a fast breeder reactor under failed conditions

A comprehensive numerical study has been done to investigate two-dimensional, steady state, conjugate natural heat convection in the hemi spherical lower plenum of a fast breeder reactor under failed conditions. The continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved over the entire domain, using the corresponding properties for the solid and fluid regions. The control volume approach is employed in order to discretize the governing equations for their numerical solution. A parametric study has been done to study the variation of the velocity vectors and isotherms for different constant temperature of the heat source, simulating different heat generation rates. The actual problem in a nuclear reactor involves a volumetric heat generation in the debris falling over the heat shield plate under failed conditions of the reactor and heat is removed by a decay heat exchanger serving as a sink. In this study we have reduced this transient problem to a quasi-steady problem with a prescribed temperature on the heat shield plate. This makes the problem more tractable. The fluid flow pattern, variation of the temperature along the axis in and around the heat source are presented to show the overall heat transfer characteristics inside the plenum.     

Hydromagnetic Stokes flow in a rotating fluid with suspended small particles

An initial value investigation is made of the motion of an incompressible, viscous conducting fluid with embedded small spherical particles bounded by an infinite rigid non-conducting plate. Both the plate and the fluid are in a state of solid body rotation with constant angular velocity about an axis normal to the plate. The flow is generated in the fluid-particle system due to non-torsional oscillations of a given frequency superimposed on the plate in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The operational method is used to derive exact solutions for the fluid and the particle velocities, and the wall shear stress. The small and the large time behaviour of the solutions is discussed in some detail. The ultimate steady-state solutions and the structure of the associated boundary layers are determined with physical implications. It is shown that rotation and magnetic field affect the motion of the fluid relatively earlier than that of the particles when the time is small. The motion for large times is set up through inertial oscillations of frequency equal to twice the angular velocity of rotation. The ultimate boundary layers are established through inertial oscillations. The shear stress at the plate is calculated for all values of the frequency parameter. The small and large-time behaviour of the shear stress is discussed. The exact solutions for the velocity of fluid and the wall shear stress are evaluated numerically for the case of an impulsively moved plate. It is found that the drag and the lateral stress on the plate fluctuate during the non-equilibrium process of relaxation if the rotation is large. The present analysis is very general in the sense that many known results in various configurations are found to follow as special cases.     

Laminar forced convection conjugate heat transfer over a flat plate

Coupled heat transfer between laminar forced convection along and conduction inside a flat plate wall is theoretically studied. The laminar convective boundary layer is analyzed by employing the integral technique. The energy equations for the fluid and the plate wall are combined under the condition of the continuity in the temperature and heat flux at the fluid-solid interface. The analysis results in a simple formal solution. Expressions have been obtained for calculating local Nusselt number, wall heat flux and temperature along the plate, all are functions of the local Brun number, Br _x , which is a measure of the ratio of the thermal resistance of the plate to that of the convective boundary layer. The results indicate that for Br _x ≥0.15, neglecting the plate resistance will results in an error of more than 5% in Nusselt number. Comparison of the present solution with other previous studies has been made. The solution may be of a considerable theoretical and practical interest. Received on 19 August 1998     

Propagation of a plane-strain hydraulic fracture with a fluid lag: Early-time solution

This paper studies the propagation of a plane-strain fluid-driven fracture with a fluid lag in an elastic solid. The fracture is driven by a constant rate of injection of an incompressible viscous fluid at the fracture inlet. The leak-off of the fracturing fluid into the host solid is considered negligible. The viscous fluid flow is lagging behind an advancing fracture tip, and the resulting tip cavity is assumed to be filled at some specified low pressure with either fluid vapor (impermeable host solid) or pore-fluids infiltrating from the permeable host solid. The scaling analysis allows to reduce problem parametric space to two lumped dimensionless parameters with the meaning of the solid toughness and of the tip underpressure (difference between the specified pressure in the tip cavity and the far field confining stress). A constant lumped toughness parameter uniquely defines solution trajectory in the parametric space, while time-varying lumped tip underpressure parameter describes evolution along the trajectory. Further analysis identifies the early and large time asymptotic states of the fracture evolution as corresponding to the small and large tip underpressure solutions, respectively. The former solution is obtained numerically herein and is characterized by a maximum fluid lag (as a fraction of the crack length), while the latter corresponds to the zero-lag solution of Spence and Sharp [Spence, D.A., Sharp, P.W., 1985. Self-similar solution for elastohydrodynamic cavity flow. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. A (400), 289–313]. The self-similarity at small/large tip underpressure implies that the solution for crack length, crack opening and net fluid pressure in the fluid-filled part of the crack is a given power-law of time, while the fluid lag is a constant fraction of the increasing fracture length. Evolution of a fluid-driven fracture between the two limit states corresponds to gradual expansion of the fluid-filled region and disappearance of the fluid lag. For small solid toughness and small tip underpressure, the fracture is practically devoid of fluid, which is localized into a narrow region near the fracture inlet. Corresponding asymptotic solution on the fracture lengthscale corresponds to that of a crack loaded by a pair of point forces which magnitude is determined from the coupled hydromechanical solution in the fluid-filled region near the crack inlet. For large solid toughness, the fluid lag is vanishingly small at any underpressure and the solution is adequately approximated by the zero-lag self-similar large toughness solution at any stage of fracture evolution. The small underpressure asymptotic solutions obtained in this work are sought to provide initial condition for the propagation of fractures which are initially under plane-strain conditions.     

Transient conjugate heat transfer from a hemispherical plate during free liquid jet impingement on the convex surface

This paper considers the analysis of transient heating of a hemispherical solid plate of finite thickness during impingement of a free liquid jet. A constant heat flux was imposed at the inner surface of the hemispherical plate at t = 0 and heat transfer was monitored for the entire duration of the transient until a steady state condition was reached. Calculations were done for Reynolds number (Re) ranging from 500 to 1,500 and dimensionless plate thicknesses to nozzle diameter ratio (b/d _n) from 0.083 to 1.5. Results are presented for local and average Nusselt number using water as the coolant and various solid materials such as silicon, constantan, and copper. It was detected that increasing the Reynolds number decreases the time for the plate to achieve the steady-state condition. Also, a higher Reynolds number increases the Nusselt number. Hemispherical plate materials with higher thermal conductivity maintain lower temperature non-uniformity at the solid–fluid interface. Increasing the plate thickness decreases the maximum temperature in the solid and increases the time to reach the steady-state condition.     

Approximate heat transfer coefficients based on variable thermophysical properties for laminar flow over a uniformly heated flat plate

New heat transfer coefficient approximations are developed for forced laminar flow over a uniformly heated flat plate at zero incidence angle. The development is based on solving the variable property boundary layer equations using a variable property similarity transform that incorporates an adjustable similarity scaling constant. The scaling constants value is iteratively adjusted until the scaled temperature gradient-at-the-wall value is equal to the small temperature difference value. The resulting scaled profiles are nearly congruent. The congruency scaling constant is then approximated in terms of simple functions of the kinematic viscosity and the Prandlt number evaluated at the plate and free stream temperatures. The approximate scaling constants are used to form new approximations for the heat transfer coefficient. The new approximate coefficients are compared to traditional coefficients for four gases and six liquid flows covering the range 0.5 < Pr < 3,000 with large temperature differences.     

The unsteady heat transfer due to a heat source in an MHD stretching sheet flow

The time evolution in the temperature field resulting from the sudden introduction of a heat source into the already fully established steady MHD flow of an electrically conducting fluid past a linearly stretching isothermal surface is considered. The problem is shown to be fully described by two dimensionless parameters, a modified magnetic field strength ?? and a heat source strength Q. Numerical solutions of the initial-value problem show that there is a critical value Q _c of the parameter Q, dependent on ??, such that, for Q<Q _c , the solution approaches a steady state at large times and, for Q>Q _c , the solutions grows exponentially large as time increases. This growth rate is determined through an eigenvalue problem which also determines the critical value Q _c . The limits of Q _c for both small and large values of ?? are discussed.     

Forced and mixed convection boundary layer flow along a flat plate with variable viscosity and variable Prandtl number: new results

The steady laminar boundary layer flow along a flat plate is studied taking into account the variation of fluid viscosity and fluid Prandtl number with temperature. In the forced convection case the plate moves with constant velocity and its temperature varies in power law with x. In the mixed convection case the plate temperature is constant and the fluid moves upwards due to an external free stream and due to buoyancy forces. The results are obtained with the direct numerical solution of the boundary layer equations. The study concerns the wall heat transfer, the wall shear stress and velocity and temperature profiles across the boundary layer. The results of the present work are different from those existing in the literature, which have been obtained with the assumption of constant Pr number.     

A similarity solution for the flow and heat transfer over a moving permeable flat plate in a parallel free stream

This paper presents both a numerical and analytical study in connection with the steady boundary layer flow and heat transfer induced by a moving permeable semi-infinite flat plate in a parallel free stream. Both the velocities of the flat plate and the free stream are proportional to x ^1/3. The surface temperature is assumed to be constant. The governing partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential equations by a new similarity transformation. Numerical results for the flow and heat transfer characteristics are obtained for various values of the moving parameter, transpiration parameter and the Prandtl number. Approximate analytical solutions are also obtained when the suction or injection parameter is very large. It is found that dual solutions exist for the case when the fluid and the plate move in the opposite directions.     

Free Convection from a Vertical Plate in a Porous Medium Subjected to a Porous Medium Subjected to a Sudden Change in Surface Heat Flux

An analysis is made of the transient free convection from a vertical flat plate which is embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium. It is assumed that for time a steady state temperature or velocity has been obtained in the boundary-layer which occurs due to a uniform flux dissipation rate . Then at time the heat flux on the plate is suddenly changed to and maintained at this value for 0$$ " align="middle" border="0"> . An analytical solution has been obtained for the temperature/velocity field for small times in which the transport effects are confined within an inner layer adjacent to the plate. These effects cause a new steady boundary layer. A numerical solution of the full boundary-layer equations is then obtained for the whole transient from to the steady state, firstly by means of a step-by-step method and then by a matching technique. The transition between the two distinct solution methods is always observed to occur very near to the turning point of the plate surface temperature, a time at which the fluid temperature is close to its steady state profile. The solution obtained using the step-by-step method shows excellent agreement with the small time analytical solution. Results are presented to illustrate the occurrence of transients from both small and large increases and decreases in the levels of existing energy inputs.     

Combined heat and mass transfer by mixed convection MHD flow along a porous plate with chemical reaction in presence of heat source

An exact and a numerical solutions to the problem of a steady mixed convective MHD flow of an incompressible viscous electrically conducting fluid past an infinite vertical porous plate with combined heat and mass transfer are presented.A uniform magnetic field is assumed to be applied transversely to the direction of the flow with the consideration of the induced magnetic field with viscous and magnetic dissipations of energy.The porous plate is subjected to a constant suction velocity as well as a uniform mixed stream velocity.The governing equations are solved by the perturbation technique and a numerical method.The analytical expressions for the velocity field,the temperature field,the induced magnetic field,the skin-friction,and the rate of heat transfer at the plate are obtained.The numerical results are demonstrated graphically for various values of the parameters involved in the problem.The effects of the Hartmann number,the chemical reaction parameter,the magnetic Prandtl number,and the other parameters involved in the velocity field,the temperature field,the concentration field,and the induced magnetic field from the plate to the fluid are discussed.An increase in the heat source/sink or the Eckert number is found to strongly enhance the fluid velocity values.The induced magnetic field along the x-direction increases with the increase in the Hartmann number,the magnetic Prandtl number,the heat source/sink,and the viscous dissipation.It is found that the flow velocity,the fluid temperature,and the induced magnetic field decrease with the increase in the destructive chemical reaction.Applications of the study arise in the thermal plasma reactor modelling,the electromagnetic induction,the magnetohydrodynamic transport phenomena in chromatographic systems,and the magnetic field control of materials processing.     

Natural convection due to solar radiation over a non-absorbing plate with and without heat losses

Natural convection over a non-reflecting, non-absorbing, ideally transparent semi-infinite vertical flat plate due to absorption of incident radiation (solar radiation) is considered. The absorbed radiation acts as a distributed source which initiates buoyancy-driven flow and convection in the absorbing layer. The plate when heated by the absorbing fluid loses heat to the surroundings from its external side. Solution of the governing equations of the flow under these circumstances is non-similar because of both the heat source term in the energy equation and the temperature boundary condition at the plate. A local non-similar technique is used to obtain solutions for a wide range of the dimensionless distance along the plate and of the dimensionless loss coefficient to the surroundings. The results show that the temperature distribution has a maximum temperature in the depth of the fluid rather than on the plate. A new definition for a local heat transfer coefficient between the plate and the absorbing fluid is introduced which is based on the local maximum temperature rise in the fluid. A formula to calculate this heat transfer coefficient is given for the anticipated range of the loss coefficient.     

Effect of heat transfer on a third grade fluid in a flat channel

The heat transfer analysis on the laminar flow of an incompressible third grade fluid through a porous flat channel is examined. The lower plate is assumed to be at a higher temperature than the upper plate. Analytical solution for temperature distribution is obtained for various values of the controlling parameters and discussed. The obtained analytical solution is also compared with the numerical solution. The comparison shows the fact that the accuracy is remarkable. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The experimental study on flat plate heat pipe of magnetic working fluid

An effective thermal spreader can achieve uniform heat flux distribution and thus enhance heat dissipation of heat sinks. Flat plate heat pipe is one of the highly effective thermal spreaders. Magnetic fluid is liquid and can be moved by the force of magnetic field. Therefore, the magnetic fluid is suitable to be used as the working fluid of flat plate heat pipes which have a very small gap between evaporation and condensation surfaces. We prepared a disk-shaped wickless flat plate heat pipe, and the distance between evaporation and condensation surfaces is only 1 mm. From experimental study, the effect of heat flux and working fluid ratio on the performance of flat plate heat pipe is presented. Also we compared the experimental results between the performance of water and magnetic fluid as working fluids.     

Convective heat transfer in a locally heated plane incompressible fluid layer

The problem of convection in a plane horizontal layer of incompressible fluid with rigid boundaries when the temperature is constant on the lower boundary and has a parabolic profile on the upper boundary can be reduced to solution of a system of time-dependent one-dimensional equations. An analytic solution of the problem is obtained directly at the extremum point. Together with the wellknown solutions which describe heat transfer for the linear temperature distribution on the boundaries, the results obtained make it possible to calculate the heat flux through a thin slit for an arbitrary given heating of a thin fluid layer between heat-conducting bodies.     

Radiative and convective heat transfer in a plane layer of absorbent curtain

An examination is made of the thermal state of a plane layer of gray gas injected into a turbulent stream of high temperature gas flowing over a permeable flat plate.Similarity-type formulations of problems are encountered both in examination of flow near a stagnation point, and also in analysis of the lifting of the boundary layer by intense injection through a porous plate [1]. The examination described relates to the following idealized formulation of the problem (Fig. la).In a plane layer of gray absorbing medium, formed by plane-parallel diffusely radiating surfaces (1-porous plate; 2-boundary of high temperature turbulent gas stream), heat transfer is accomplished by radiation and convection of the layer normal to the surfaces and by molecular heat conduction. All the physical and optical properties of the medium and of the boundary surfaces are assumed to be constant, independent of temperature.The temperature of the wetted surface of the specimen and also that of the fictitious surface determining the upper bound of the lift-off region, are given.Also assumed given is the velocity of the injected medium, which is constant throughout the entire lift-off layer. This idealization appreciably facilitates our examination without in principle changing its features.A very simplified examination of this problem was given in [2]. The special case of a medium with low optical thickness was examined in [3,4].The problem was examined in [5] under the assumption that molecular heat conduction in the medium is negligibly small.In the formulation considered the generalized energy equation has the form     

A simplified model of heat transfer in heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic refrigerators

A simplified model of heat transfer was developed to investigate the thermal behavior of heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic devices. The model took advantage of previous results describing the thermal behavior of the thermoacoustic core and heat transfer in oscillating flow to study the performance of heat exchangers attached to the core. The configuration considered is a flat tube (with a working fluid flowing in the tube) of the thickness of the stack plate attached to both ends of the stack plate. Geometrical and operational parameters as well as thermophysical properties of the heat exchangers, transport fluids in the heat exchangers, stack plate and the thermoacoustic working fluid were organized into dimensionless groups that allowed accounting for their impact on the performance of the heat exchangers. Two types of thermal boundary conditions were considered: constant temperature and constant heat flux along the heat exchanger tubes. Numerical simulations were carried out with the model introduced in the paper. The temperature distributions and heat fluxes near the edge of the stack plate were found to be nonlinear. The influence of system parameters on the thermal performance of the heat exchangers was analyzed.This article is dedicated to Prof. D. Mewes, whose knowledge, creativity, enthusiasm and dedication to engineering science was an inspiration to me and to many students, scientists, engineers and colleagues all over the world (C. Herman).     

Unsteady boundary layer flow due to a stretching surface in a rotating fluid

The induced unsteady flow due to a stretching surface in a rotating fluid, where the unsteadiness is caused by the suddenly stretched surface is studied in this paper. After a similarity transformation, the unsteady Navier–Stokes equations have been solved numerically using the Keller-box method. Also, the perturbation solution for small times as well as the asymptotic solution for large times, when the flow becomes steady, has been obtained. It is found that there is a smooth transition from the small time solution to the large time or steady state solution.     

Flow and heat transfer due to impulsive motion of a cone in a viscous fluid

Numerical solution has been obtained for the development of the flow over a cone which is impulsively set into motion. Initially the flow is described by the solution of Rayleigh and then it tends to the ultimate steady state solution of Falkner-Skan equation. But due to the leading edge effect the semi-similar equation describing the transient flow changes its character after certain time and the solution depends also on the ultimate steady state solution of the Falkner-Skan equation. A second-order upwind difference scheme has been used for discretisation. The temperature distribution and heat transfer has also been obtained for constant wall temperature as well as for constant heat flux at the wall. With the increase ofm, Falkner-Skan parameter, the magnitude of skin friction and wall heat transfer increases. It has been found that form≥?0.275 flow separation does not occur.