Thermal interaction between free convection and forced convection along a vertical conducting wall

A theoretical study is presented in this paper to investigate the conjugate heat transfer across a vertical finite wall separating two forced and free convection flows at different temperatures. It is assumed that the heat conduction in the wall is only in the transversal direction. We also assume that countercurrent boundary layers are formed on the both sides of the wall. The governing equations of this problem and their corresponding boundary conditions are all cast into a dimensionless form by using a non-similarity transformation. These resulting equations, which are singular at the points ξ_c=0 and 1, are solved numerically using a very efficient singular perturbation method. The effects of the resistance parameters and of the Prandtl numbers on heat transfer characteristics are investigated and presented in a table and ten figures. Received on 8 April 1998