Numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer in closed cavities partially heated from below

Abstract

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.

The present problem deals with the numerical study of twodimensional, steady, incompressible, laminar natural convection in air filled cavity with a centrally heated bottom wall and cooled upper wall. The vertical walls and the rest of the bottom walls are assumed to be insulated. Results are presented for Ra = 103 - 3´106, A = 1-3, W = 0.25 - 1 and Pr = 0.7. The governing equations, written in terms of streamfunction- vorticity formulation, are solved using a finite volume method. The influence of heated surface dimension on the fluid flow and thermal patterns is also presented by comparing the present results against those obtained by the author in an earlier study within a square cavity heated from below. Based on numerical data a correlation has been developed for convective heat transfer.