A Numerical Study of the Natural Convective Heat Transfer From a Partially Covered Recessed Isothermal Vertical Surface

Abstract

A numerical study of natural convective heat transfer from a heated isothermal vertical plane surface has been considered. There are relatively short horizontal adiabatic surfaces normal to the isothermal surface at the top and bottom of this isothermal surface these horizontal adiabatic wall surfaces then being joined to vertical adiabatic surfaces. There is a thin surface that offers no resistance to heat transfer that is parallel to the vertical isothermal surface and which partly covers this surface. The situation considered is a simplified model of a window, which is represented by the vertical isothermal wall section, that is recessed in a frame, which is represented by the horizontal adiabatic surfaces, which is mounted in a vertical wall, which is represented by the vertical adiabatic surfaces, and which is exposed to a large surrounding room. The window is covered by a partially open plane blind which is represented by the vertical thin surface that offers no resistance to heat transfer. The flow has been assumed to be laminar and two-dimensional. Fluid properties have been assumed constant except for the density change with temperature that gives rise to the buoyancy forces. The governing equations, written in dimensionless form, have been solved using a commercial finite-element based code. Results have only been obtained for a Prandtl number of 0.7.