Laminar natural convection in right triangular enclosures

In this study, natural convection in non-rectangular enclosures is analyzed numerically. Streamlines and isotherms are presented for different triangular enclosures with different boundary conditions and Rayleigh numbers. Mean Nusselt numbers on hot walls are also calculated in order to make comparisons between different cases. The solutions are obtained for different aspect ratios where boundary conditions represent the wintertime heating of an attic space. This made possible to investigate the effect of aspect ratio on natural convection. In this study, quarter circular enclosure, which is very similar to right triangles, is also examined. Consequently, we had the opportunity to analyze how shape changes affect the flow pattern. The results of the calculations are compared with the similar enclosures and boundary conditions.     

A numerical study of three-dimensional laminar natural convection in a vented enclosure

A three-dimensional numerical investigation of steady laminar natural convection in vented enclosures is carried out. A discrete flush-type heat source mounted on the substrate is used to simulate an electronic component. Four different vent locations are investigated. Combined natural convection in the air and conduction in the heat source, the substrate, and the enclosure walls are solved. Solutions are obtained for Rayleigh numbers ranging from 10⁴ to 10⁶, different substrate thermal conductivity ratios, and varied vent sizes. The calculation domain is extended beyond the cubic enclosure in x-, y-, and z-directions. Appropriate boundary conditions are prescribed on the extended computational domain. The resulting flow and temperature patterns are discussed. Also, the local and overall heat transfer from the heat source and the substrate, in terms of Nusselt numbers and the surface temperatures, are presented to illustrate the vent effects.     

Conjugate heat transfer in square enclosures

Building elements represented by square vertical enclosures encircled with finite walls or with centered solid body, could maintain the equivalent fluid volumes through the volume ratio scale. Present work aims to investigate the fluid flow and heat transfer in these two building elements. Complete two-dimensional numerical simulation of the conjugate heat conduction and natural convection occurring in both enclosures is carried out. An analytical expression for the minimum size of the inserted body at which the body begins to suppress the natural convection flow is proposed and validated by the numerical results. The fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed through the streamlines, heatlines, and total heat transfer rates across both enclosures. Results reveal that heat transfer rates across both enclosures are complex functions of the volume ratio scale, Rayleigh number, and the relative thermal conductivity.     

A numerical study of 3D natural convection in a cube: effects of the horizontal thermal boundary conditions

A high-resolution, three-dimensional finite-difference numerical study of natural convection flows of a viscous fluid in a differentially heated cubical box is reported. The vertical sidewalls of the enclosure are maintained at constant temperatures of different values. The other vertical walls (the end walls) are thermally insulated. For the horizontal walls, two kinds of thermal boundary conditions are specified: adiabatic and perfectly conducting. Computations have been performed for an air-filled cavity for Rayleigh numbers of 10⁵ and 10⁶. The specific effects of the horizontal thermal boundary conditions on the flow structure are examined in detail. In the case of conducting walls, heat transfer through the horizontal walls enhances the convective flow activities. The numerically predicted velocity and temperature profiles in the symmetry planes are consistent with previous experimental measurements and computations.     

MHD natural convection in porous media-filled enclosures

In this work, the magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） natural convection heat transfer problem inside a porous medium filled with inclined rectangular enclosures is investigated numerically. The boundary conditions selected on the enclosure are two adiabatic and two isothermal walls. The governing equations, continuity, and Forchheimer extension of the Darcy law and energy are transformed into dimensionless forms by using a set of suitable variables, and then solved by using a finite difference scheme. The governing parameters are the magnetic influence number, the Darcy Rayleigh number, the inclination angle, and the aspect ratio of the enclosure. It is found that the magnetic influence number and the inclination angle have pronounced effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer in porous media-filled enclosures.     

An experimental study of the effect of wall temperature nonuniformity on natural convection in an enclosure heated from the side

An experimental study of natural convection in a parallelepipedal enclosure induced by a single vertical wall is described. The upper half of this wall was warm and the lower half cold. The other enclosure walls were insulated. The temperature and flow measurements were performed in the high Rayleigh number regime (10¹⁰<Ra<5×10¹⁰) by using water as the working fluid. The Rayleigh number was based on the enclosure height and the temperature difference between the warm and the cold part of the driving wall. The flow field featured two flat cells, one filled with warm fluid along the top horizontal wall, and the other filled with cold fluid along the bottom horizontal wall. Each of these cells was surrounded by an additional cell as tall as half the enclosure height. The above flow structure prohibited extensive thermal contact between warm and cold fluid, thus limiting the role of convection on the heat transfer process in the cavity. The findings of this study differ significantly from the findings of previous studies based on the ‘classical’ enclosure model possessing two isothermal vertical walls, the one warm and the other cold, and support the view that the use of ‘more realistic‘ temperature boundary conditions in enclosure natural convection needs careful examination.     

Transient natural convection in a cavity with heat input and a constant temperature wall on opposite sides

The transient natural convection of a fluid with Prandtl number of order 200 in a two-dimensional square cavity has been numerically studied. One of the vertical walls of the cavity is kept at a constant (ambient) temperature and a constant heat flux is applied on the opposite wall. The other walls are adiabatic. Initially, a boundary layer is formed near the heated wall; subsequently, a large vortical structure is generated, together with an upper intrusion layer. As time progresses, the average temperature in the cavity increases, and a descending boundary layer is formed near the constant temperature wall. During the transition to the steady-state regime, a thermal stratification pattern is formed. The results are compared with the scale analysis presented by Patterson and Imberger (1980).     

正弦波温度边界下多孔介质方腔内非热平衡对流传热数值模拟

采用局部非热平衡模型,在方腔左侧壁面温度正弦波变化、右侧壁面温度均一的边界条件下,通过SIM-PLER算法数值研究了固体骨架发热多孔介质方腔内的稳态非达西自然对流,主要探讨了不同正弦波波动参数N及方腔的高宽比M/L对方腔内自然对流与传热的影响规律。计算结果表明:正弦波温度边界使得方腔内的流场出现了复杂的变化,流体及固体区域左侧壁面附近出现了周期性的正负变化的温度场分布,左侧壁面局部Nusselt数出现了周期性的震荡现象;存在一个最佳温度波动参数N=1,此时多孔介质方腔内的整体散热量达到最大值;增加方腔高宽比会显著地削弱方腔内的自然对流传热过程,小高宽比也会在一定的程度上削弱多孔介质方腔内的对流传热。     

Effects of walls temperature variation on double diffusive natural convection of Al2O3–water nanofluid in an enclosure

The effect of wall temperature variations on double diffusive natural convection of Al₂O₃–water nanofluid in a differentially heated square enclosure with constant temperature hot and cold vertical walls is studied numerically. Transport mechanisms of nanoparticles including Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis that cause heterogeneity are considered in non-homogeneous model. The hot and cold wall temperatures are varied, but the temperature difference between them is always maintained 5 °C. The thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity, viscosity and density and thermophoresis diffusion and Brownian motion coefficients are considered variable with temperature and volume fraction of nanoparticles. The governing equations are discretized using the control volume method. The results show that nanoparticle transport mechanisms affect buoyancy force and cause formation of small vortexes near the top and bottom walls of the cavity and reduce the heat transfer. By increasing the temperature of the walls the effect of transport mechanisms decreases and due to enhanced convection the heat transfer rate increases.     

Freezing of Water in a Differentially Heated Cubic Cavity

An experimental and numerical study has been made of transient natural convection of water freezing in a cube-shaped cavity. The effect of the heat transfer through the side walls is studied in two configurations: with the cavity surrounded by air and with the cavity immersed in an external water bath of constant temperature. The experimental data for the velocity and temperature fields are obtained using liquid crystal tracers. The transient development of the ice/water interface is measured. The collected data are used as an experimental benchmark and compared with numerical results obtained from a Finite-difference code with boundary fitted grid generation. The computational model has been adopted to simulate as closely as possible the physical experiment. Hence, fully variable fluid properties are implemented in the code, and, to improve modelling of the thermal boundary conditions, the energy equation is also solved inside the bounding walls. Although the general behaviour of the calculated ice front and its volume matches observations, several details of the flow structure do not. Observed discrepancies between experimental and numerical results indicate the necessity of verifying and improving the usual assumptions for modelling ice formation.     

Comprehensive correlations for laminar mixed convection on vertical and horizontal flat plates

This paper presents comprehensive correlation equations of the local Nusselt numbers and surface shear stresses for laminar forced convection, natural convection, and mixed convection on vertical and horizontal flat plates which are maintained with uniform wall temperature or uniform surface heat flux. The correlation for pure forced convection and pure natural convection are very accurate for any Prandtl number between 0.001 and infinity. The correlations for mixed convection coincide very well with the numerical results over the entire regimes of mixed convection intensity and Prandtl number for the eight cases of the two plates with distinct thermal boundary conditions and buoyancy-assisting and-opposing flow conditions.     

Convective stability of a nonisothermal fluid in a rotating horizontal coaxial gap

The thermal fluid convection in a coaxial horizontal gap uniformly rotating about its axis is investigated. The threshold above which convective flows are excited and the structure of these flows are studied. It is found that convection ensues irrespective of whether the inner or outer boundary temperature is higher. Convection manifests itself in the threshold development of rolls elongated in the direction of the rotation axis and is determined by two different mechanisms. If the layer is heated from outside, the centrifugal convection mechanism plays a leading part and the diameter of the convective rolls is comparable with the layer thickness. If the higher is the temperature of the inner boundary of the layer, the centrifugal inertia force has a stabilizing effect and convection development is related with the action of thermal vibrational mechanism. The latter is determined by gravity-generated oscillations of the nonisothermal fluid relative to the cavity. The wave number of the vibrational convective structures is several times smaller than under centrifugal convection. The results obtained broaden our understanding of thermal convection in systems rotating in external static force fields.     

Alterations in peristaltic pumping of Jeffery nanoliquids with electric and magnetic fields

The combined effects of electric and magnetic fields on peristaltic flow of Jeffery nanoliquids are analytically investigated. Double-diffusive convection in the asymmetric microchannel is also carried out. The walls of the microchannel are propagating with a finite phase difference in a sinusoidal manner. Rosseland diffusion flux model is employed to examine the thermal radiation effect. The zeta potential on the walls is considered very low to apply Hückel–Debye approximations. The coupled non-linear governing equations are simplified by using dimensional analysis and lubrication theory. The closed form solutions for potential function, nanoparticle fraction field, solute concentration field, temperature field, stream function, and axial velocity are derived under the appropriate boundary conditions. It is noteworthy that the pumping characteristics strongly depend on the magnetic fields, electric fields, electric double layer thickness, Jeffery parameter, thermal radiation and Grashof number. Furthermore, trapping phenomenon is analyzed under the effects of Hartmann number, Jeffrey parameter, Grashof number and Helmholtz–Smoluchowski velocity. The novelty of the present work is the amalgamation of biomimetics (peristaltic propulsion), electro-magneto-hydrodynamics and nanofluid dynamics to produce a smart pump system model for smart drug delivery systems.     

Conjugate Natural Convection in a Closed Domain Containing a Heat-Releasing Element with a Constant Heat-Release Intensity

Mathematical modeling of gravitational heat convection in a closed rectangular domain with finite-thickness heat-conducting walls in the presence of a heat-releasing element with a constant heat-release intensity located at the base of the domain under conditions of convective-radiative heat transfer on one external boundary is performed. The influence of constitutive parameters (Grashof number and relative thermal conductivity) and flow unsteadiness on local thermohydrodynamic characteristics (streamlines and temperature field) and on the integral parameter (mean Nusselt number on the inner surface of the solid walls) is analyzed. Results obtained for two models of the heat source (with a constant temperature and with a constant heat-release intensity) are compared.     

Transient natural convection flow of a particulate suspension through a vertical channel

Continuum equations governing transient, laminar, fully-developed natural convection flow of a particulate suspension through an infinitely long vertical channel are developed. The equations account for particulate viscous effects which are absent from the original dusty-gas model. The walls of the channel are maintained at constant but different temperatures. No-slip boundary conditions are employed for the particle phase at the channel walls. The general transient problem is solved analytically using trigonometric Fourier series and the Laplace transform method. A parametric study of some physical parameters involved in the problem is performed to illustrate the influence of these parameters on the flow and thermal aspects of the problem.     

The effects of forced boundary conditions on flow within a cubic cavity using digital particle image thermometry and velocimetry (DPITV)

Buoyancy-driven convection within a cavity, whose sidewalls are heated and cooled, is a problem of great interest, because it has applications in heat transfer and mixing. Most studies to date have studied one of two cases: the steady-state case or the development of the transient flow as it approaches steady state. Our main concern was to study the response of the cavity to time-varying thermal boundary conditions. We therefore decided to observe the flow phenomena within a convection cavity under sinusoidal thermal forcing of the sidewalls. To map the flow properly, it is necessary to have simultaneous kinematic and thermal information. Therefore, the digital particle image thermometry and velocimetry (DPITV) is used to acquire data. Implementing this technique requires seeding the flow with encapsulated liquid crystal particles and illuminating a cross section of the flow with a sheet of white light. Extraction of the thermal and kinematic content is in two parts. For the first, the liquid crystals will reflect different colors of the visible spectrum, depending on the temperatures to which they are subjected. Therefore, calibrating their color reflection with temperature allows for the extraction of the thermal content. For the second part, the kinematic information is obtained through the use of a digital cross-correlation particle image velocimetry technique. With the use of DPITV, the flow within a convection cavity is mapped and studied under steady forcing and sinusoidally forced boundary conditions at the Brunt-Väisälä frequency. For the sinusoidally forced case, three cases are studied. In the first, the heating between the two walls is in phase. In the second, the heating between the two walls is 180° out of phase. In the third, the heating between the two walls is 90° out of phase. For steady forcing, the thermal plots show that the flow develops a linearly stratified profile within the center of the cell. At the sidewalls, however, owing to forcing, hot/cold thermal boundary layers develop at the left/right walls. These hot/cold thermal boundary layers then turn around the upper-left/lower-right corners and develop into intrusion layers that extend across the top and bottom walls. The vorticity and streamlines show that the bulk of the fluid motion is concentrated around the walls, whereas the fluid within the center of the cell remains stationary. For the sinusoidally forced cases, the thermal plots show the existence of many thermal “islands,” or pockets of fluid where the temperature is different with respect to its surroundings. The vorticity plots show that the center of the cell is mostly devoid of vorticity and that the vorticity is mainly confined to the sidewalls, with some vorticity at the top and bottom walls. For the 0° forcing, the streamlines show the development of two counterrotating rollers. For the 180° forcing, the streamlines show the development of only one roller. Finally, for the 90° forcing, the streamlines show the development of both a two-roller and a one-roller system, depending on the position within the forcing cycle.     

Resolving the stratification discrepancy of turbulent natural convection in differentially heated air-filled cavities. Part III: A full convection–conduction–surface radiation coupling

The present study concerns an air-filled differentially heated cavity of 1 m × 0.32 m × 1 m (width × depth × height) subject to a temperature difference of 15 K and is motivated by the need to understand the persistent discrepancy observed between numerical and experimental results on thermal stratification in the cavity core. An improved experiment with enhanced metrology was set up and experimental data have been obtained along with the characteristics of the surfaces and materials used. Experimental temperature distributions on the passive walls have been introduced in numerical simulations in order to provide a faithful prediction of experimental data. By means of DNS using spectral methods, heat conduction in the insulating material is first coupled with natural convection in the cavity. As heat conduction influences only the temperature distribution on the top and bottom surfaces and in the near wall regions, surface radiation is added to the coupling of natural convection with heat conduction. The temperature distribution in the cavity is strongly affected by the polycarbonate front and rear walls of the cavity, which are almost black surfaces for low temperature radiation, and also other low emissivity walls. The thermal stratification is considerably weakened by surface radiation. Good agreement between numerical simulations and experiments is observed on both time-averaged fields and turbulent statistics. Treating the full conduction–convection–radiation coupling allowed to confirm that experimental wall temperatures resulted from the coupled phenomena and this is another way to predict correctly the experimental results in the cavity.     

Double diffusive convection in a porous medium with modulated temperature on the boundaries

The effect of temperature modulation on the onset of double diffusive convection in a sparsely packed porous medium is studied by making linear stability analysis, and using Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model. The temperature field between the walls of the porous layer consists of a steady part and a time dependent periodic part that oscillates with time. Only infinitesimal disturbances are considered. The effect of permeability and thermal modulation on the onset of double diffusive convection has been studied using Galerkin method and Floquet theory. The critical Rayleigh number is calculated as a function of frequency and amplitude of modulation, Vadasz number, Darcy number, diffusivity ratio, and solute Rayleigh number. Stabilizing and destabilizing effects of modulation on the onset of double diffusive convection have been obtained. The effects of other parameters are also discussed on the stability of the system. Some results as the particular cases of the present study have also been obtained. Also the results corresponding to the Brinkman model and Darcy model have been compared.     

Two-dimensional convection in a horizontal fluid layer with spatially periodic boundary temperatures

Two-dimensional thermal convection in a fluid layer confined between two horizontal rigid walls kept at spatially periodic temperatures is investigated by direct numerical simulations. With increasing the Rayleigh number, convection evolves from a steady state to a temporally chaotic flow. It is observed that the transition to the chaos occurs via quasi-periodic states with two or three basic frequencies or via sequences of period-doubling bifurcations, according to the boundary temperature distributions.