Numerical investigation of conjugate free convection with surface radiation from a left vertical wall of closed/open cavities with uniform volumetric heat generating source

Abstract

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.

The results of fundamental study of conjugate free convection and surface radiation from the left wall with uniform volumetric heat source in a two-dimensional open cavities with air as the intervening medium are reported. Modified Rayleigh numbers, Ra* = 5X10-4 5X106, aspect ratios, A = 2 – 4, and Prandtl number, Pr = 0.71 have been considered in the present problem. The governing equations, written in terms of stream function –vorticity formulation, have been solved using a finite volume method. For surface radiation calculations, radiosity –irradiation formulation has been used, while the view factors required therein, are calculated using the Hottel’s Crossed-string method. The effects of heat source, the material and surface properties of the left wall on both heat transfer and fluid flow have been studied. Based on a set of numerical data, a correlation has been developed for maximum non-dimensional left wall temperatures.