NATURAL CONVECTION IN PARTITIONED ENCLOSURES WITH LOCALIZED HEATING

Abstract

The aim of the present investigation was to study numerically the natural convection in partitioned enclosures with localized heating from below. Two‐dimensional equations of conservation of mass, momentum and energy, with the Boussinesq approximation are solved using finite difference method. Various geometrical parameters were: aspect ratio A = 0.4−0.6, isothermal surface length B = 0.5, its position C = 0.3, partition position D = 0.5−1.0, its length E = 0.2−0.6, heat source length X = 0.05−1.00, and its position ε = variable. The Rayleigh number was varied from 103 to 106. The results are reduced in terms of the normalized Nusselt number as a function of the Rayleigh number, and other non‐dimensional geometrical parameters. The isotherms and streamlines are produced for various Rayleigh numbers and geometrical conditions.

Citation

NTIBARUFATA, E., HASNAOUI, M., BILGEN, E. and VASSEUR, P. (1993), "NATURAL CONVECTION IN PARTITIONED ENCLOSURES WITH LOCALIZED HEATING", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 133-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb017521