Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/11375/16814
Title: | Laminar Natural Convection in Air-Filled Rectangular Cavities With and Without Partitions on Walls |
Authors: | Wu, Wenjiang |
Advisor: | Ching, Chan |
Department: | Mechanical Engineering |
Keywords: | laminar, natural convection, air-filled rectangular, cavities, |
Publication Date: | Dec-2008 |
Abstract: | <p>The laminar natural convection in air-filled rectangular cavities with and without a partition on the wall was experimentally investigated. Temperature measurements and flow visualizations were performed for cases with heated and cooled vertical walls (corresponding to global Grashof numbers GrH of approximately 1.4 x 10^8 to 1.8 x 10^8) and non-dimensional top wall temperatures θT of 0.52 (insulated) to 2.3. In the rectangular cavities without the partition and with aspect ratios of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0, the heated top wall caused the natural convection boundary layer flow to separate from either the top wall (for the cases with Or ;S 1.2) or the heated vertical wall (for the cases with θT >~ 1.2) due to the negative buoyancy force. For the cases with θT >~ 1.2, there is an anti-clockwise recirculating flow in the upper left corner region. The extent of the recirculating flow decreased with an increase of the aspect ratio. The temperature gradient in the core region, dθ∞ /d(y/H), increased with an increase of θT. For a given aspect ratio, dθ∞/d(y/H) changed more rapidly with the change in θT for the cases with θT <~ 1.2 compared to the cases with θT >~ 1.2. The increase in dθ∞/ d(y/H) was more significant for the smaller aspect ratio cavity. The temperature profiles predicted from the similarity solutions proposed by Kulkarni et al. [1] and from the non-similarity model developed by Chen and Eichhorn [2] for natural convection on an isothermal vertical wall in a stratified environment were compared to the measurements in the current cases. These models were not able to accurately describe the characteristics of the natural convection flow in the rectangular cavities.</p> <p>An aluminium partition with non-dimensional heights Hp/H of 0.0625 and 0.125 was attached either to the heated vertical wall or top wall at y/H = 0.65, 0.95 and x/H = 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 to study the effect of the partition on the laminar natural convection flow in a square cavity. The blockage and thermal effects of the partition resulted in changes in the temperature and flow fields, but were mainly limited in the vicinity of the partition. The effect of the partition changed with the height and location of the partition. When the partition was attached to the heated top wall, a recirculating flow was formed between the partition and the heated vertical wall. For a given partition height, the structure of this recirculating flow was dependent on the partition location and θT. A thermal boundary layer developed along the rear surface of the partition due to the thermal effect of the partition. The ambient temperature outside the boundary layer and Nu near the corner region were affected by the partition height due to the changes in the recirculating flow and the rear surface of the partition.</p> |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/16814 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Wu Wenjiang.pdf | 20.28 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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